inflect

Change vocal pitch

To inflect is to change the form of a word to express grammatical function—tense, number, case, or mood: English inflects verbs for past tense by adding -ed.

Languages vary in how heavily they inflect; English inflects relatively little compared to Latin or Russian.

Inflect also means to modulate the voice: She inflected her tone to convey sarcasm.

The noun is inflection.

grammar

conjugate

Modify verbs grammatically

declineDecrease or refuse
parseExamine syntax closely
modifyChange partially

tense · aspect · mood · voice · case · number · gender · person · agreement · paradigm

voice

modulate

Vary pitch or intensity

intoneRecite in singsong
pitchFrequency of sound
cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern

tone · stress · accent · emphasis · prosody · intonation · articulation · enunciation · timbre · resonance

morphology

affix

Word-part modifier

prefixRoot-modifying front element
suffixWord-ending addition
infixAffix within a word

root · stem · morpheme · declension · conjugation · paradigm · clitic · affixation · agglutination · reduplication

bend

curve

Smooth, angleless line

bowRespectful forward inclination
arcCurved line segment
angleGeometric measure of rotation

turn · crook · recurve · refract · deviate · incline · slant · cant · tilt

Opposites

vocal modulation

inflectmonotone

Single unvarying pitch

drone · flatten · deadpan · mumble

grammatical modification

inflectisolate

Separate from others

physical bending/curving

inflectstraighten

Make linear or orderly

unbend · flatten · extend · align

Phrases

inflection pointsWhere curvature changes sign
inflectional endingsBound morphemes marking grammar
voice inflectionPitch shifts while speaking
vocal inflectionPitch variation in speech

Family

inflection, inflected, inflects, uninflected, inflecting, inflections, inflectional

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Rated G