Why do all languages share the same intonation for questions?

OmegaMouse@pawb.social to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 76 points –

I could be wrong here, but it seems to me that a common aspect amongst all languages is the tendency to raise the pitch of your voice slightly when asking a question. Especially at the end of a question sentence.

If I'm wrong about this raised pitch being common amongst all languages, at the very least do all languages change their tone slightly to indicate that a question is being asked?

I guess there needs to be some way to indicate what is and isn't a question. Perhaps a higher pitched voice reflects uncertainty. Is this something deep rooted in humans, or just an arbitrary choice when language developed?

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Yes. That's a major component of the "valley girl" accent.

Nah I lived with a woman in Burbank. Not my scene. Out of all the people in the LA suburbs I met whom I didn't like, that annoying valley girl accent never came up.