Intonation

[ɪntonaˈt͡si̯oːn]

/[ɪntonaˈt͡si̯oːn]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Intonation” has 14 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #46,048. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#46,048
frequency rank, German
1,488
“I” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Zusammenwirken von Akzentuierung, Tonhöhenverlauf und Sprechpausen in der gesprochenen Sprache; Bußmann definiert: „Im weiteren Sinne: Gesamtheit der prosodischen Eigenschaften lautsprachlicher Äuß...

Corpus desk

Index DE-intonation · Intonation · German

Intonation · rank #46,048 · 14 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #46,048
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,488
  • PHOTO-FINISH innerparteili…

Nearest frequency peer: innerparteilichen (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Intonation“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Intonation“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Intonation vs Intention
80% similar
Intonation vs Innovation
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Intonation
PropertyValue
HeadwordIntonation
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ɪntonaˈt͡si̯oːn]
Letters10
Frequency rank#46,048
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Intonation“

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).Intonationliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „innerparteilichen“ (#46,047), „irisch“ (#46,049), „Infrastrukturen“ (#46,045). Unter 1,488 „I“-Lemmata liegt „Intonation“ bei #46,048. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around Intonation (IPA [ɪntonaˈt͡si̯oːn]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #46,048 among 1,488 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for Intonation, with forms such as "inntonation", "inotnation", and "intnoation". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Intention", "Innovation", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Intonation, spelled I-N-T-O-N-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Zusammenwirken von Akzentuierung, Tonhöhenverlauf und Sprechpausen in der gesprochenen Sprache; Bußmann definiert: „Im weiteren Sinne: Gesamtheit der prosodischen Eigenschaften lautsprachlicher Äußerungen (Silben, Wörter, Phrasen)'“
  2. 2
    Tongestaltung
  3. 3
    Anstimmen eines Gesangs
  4. 4
    Einstimmen/Stimmen von Instrumenten
  5. 5
    Präludium, Vorspiel

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Intonation appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Die Intonation eines Satzes ist wichtig für sein Verständnis: So kann man aus dem Aussagesatz „Hans kommt“ durch Frageintonation den Fragesatz „Hans kommt?“ machen.
  2. Die Junktur „fällt (wie die Phänomene Ton, Intonation, Akzent und Quantität) in den Bereich der prosodischen Merkmale.“

Synonyms

MelodieSatzmelodieSprachmelodie

This word in other languages

intonation(English)entonación(Español)intonation(Français)entoação(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • inntonation
  • inotnation
  • intnoation
  • intoantion
  • intonaiton
  • intonatino
  • intonationn
  • intonatoin
  • intonattion
  • intonnation
  • intontaion
  • inttonation
  • itnonation
  • nitonation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Intonation - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

inntonation1inotnation2intnoation2intoantion2intonaiton2intonatino2intonationn1intonatoin2
Edit distance from "Intonation"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Intonation"?
"Intonation" is spelled I-N-T-O-N-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ɪntonaˈt͡si̯oːn].
What does "Intonation" mean?
As a noun, "Intonation" means: Zusammenwirken von Akzentuierung, Tonhöhenverlauf und Sprechpausen in der gesprochenen Sprache; Bußmann definiert: „Im weiteren Sinne: Gesamtheit der prosodischen Eigenschaften lautsprachlicher Äuß...
What words are commonly confused with "Intonation"?
"Intonation" is commonly confused with "Intention", "Innovation". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Intonation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Intonation" is [ɪntonaˈt͡si̯oːn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Intonation" come from?
"Intonation" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Intonation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Höhenangst#46,044hingehören#46,031Kinderchor#46,068Kindeswohl#46,069

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

Hochrhein14 variantsherstellte14 variantsKollisionen14 variantskunstvolle14 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list