inflecting
Modifying word endings
Inflecting is the act of changing a word's form to express grammatical distinctions—tense, number, case, or mood.
English inflects verbs for tense (walk/walked) and nouns for number (dog/dogs).
Inflecting also means modulating the voice: Her voice rose, inflecting the statement as a question.
Both senses involve bending or varying a base form.
Pitch variation in speech
- pitchFrequency of sound
- modulationVarying signals to transmit
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- prosodyStudy of verse rhythm
tone · stress · accentuation · rising · falling · contour · melody · lilt
Verb form variation system
- declensionNoun form variation
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- tenseStrained or nervous
- aspectFeature or dimension
mood · case · number · gender · voice · agreement · paradigm · affixation
intonation
Pitch variation in speech
- pitchFrequency of sound
- modulationVarying signals to transmit
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
prosody · tone · stress · accentuation · rising · falling · contour · melody · lilt · expression
conjugation
Verb form variation system
- declensionNoun form variation
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- tenseStrained or nervous
aspect · mood · case · number · gender · voice · agreement · paradigm · affixation · suffix
curving
Bending in arc
- bowingBending forward in deference
- flexingContracting muscles voluntarily
- arcingMoving along curved trajectory
angling · turning · warping · shaping · deforming · light · ray · refraction · optics · trajectory
inflectinguninflected
Without grammatical modification
isolating · invariable · analytic · citation form · periphrastic
inflectingmonotone
Single unvarying pitch
flat · uninflected · droning · expressionless · deadpan
- inflection pointsWhere curvature changes sign
- inflectional endingsBound morphemes marking grammar
- voice inflectionPitch shifts while speaking
- vocal inflectionPitch variation in speech