Which term covers stress, rhythm, and intonation along with tempo, loudness, and voice quality?

• A. Prosody
• B. Phonology
• C. Phonetics
• D. Morphology

Answer: (A)

Prosody is how speech is delivered beyond the individual sounds, capturing the rhythm, stress, and intonation that shape meaning. It also includes tempo, loudness, and voice quality, all of which influence how a message is perceived—emphasis, emotion, and whether a sentence is a question or statement. These suprasegmental features operate across larger units like syllables, words, and phrases, helping listeners parse meaning and intent in real time.

Phonology focuses on the abstract system of sounds and how they contrast with one another in a language, not on the expressive patterning of speech. Phonetics studies the physical properties of sounds themselves—the articulation, acoustic signals, and perception. Morphology is concerned with the structure and construction of words and how they are formed. Since the described set of features spans rhythm, stress, intonation, tempo, loudness, and voice quality, prosody is the correct term.