This resource is a semester-long tone system invention project implemented as the central component of an advanced undergraduate course on tone. The project is broken down into four  individual assignments: Origins of Tone (i.e. tonogenesis), Tonal Inventory, Tonal Processes, and Tonal Adaptation (i.e. tonal assignment in loanwords). Students also submit a Final Tone System, which is an overall description of their invented tone system that synthesizes the four individual  assignments and incorporates appropriate revisions based on instructor feedback. This conlanging-type project is a creative alternative to a traditional research paper and thus expands the variety of ways for students to engage with the material. It is distinctive in its relatively narrow focus on one phonological subsystem, but it could serve as a model for conlanging assignments in other subfields of linguistics. Instructors may use the resource in whole or in part  or adapt its principles to other courses or aspects of grammar.

Keywords: phonology, tone, conlang, constructed languages

How to cite:  Glewwe, E. (2025). Inventing a tonal system. TRILL: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Linguistics 1(1). Linguistic Society of America.

How to download: Click on the "Resources" tab above for a pdf of the narrative and other materials.