A tone language, or tonal language, is a language in which words can differ in tones (like pitches in music) in addition to consonants and vowels.

Many languages, including Mandarin, Vietnamese, Thai, Meitei, Lao, Hmong, Cantonese, Punjabi, Chittagonian , Yorùbá, Igbo, Luganda, Ewe, Lingála, Cilubà and Cherokee are tonal. Other languages, including Indo-European languages such as English and Hindi, are not considered tone languages. They can use intonation in different ways.