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Pitch refers to how high or low a sound is. In the context of this article, the sound we're concerned with is the voice.

Example:
We can make our voices get higher or deeper (change the pitch of our voices) by altering the shape of our vocal cords (or vocal folds). When our vocal cords are stretched out more, they vibrate more slowly as air passes through them. This slower vibration causes a lower or deeper sound. When our vocal cords are shorter and thinner, the vibration is faster, creating a higher-pitched sound.

Intonation comprises several components, including stress and inflection. Although these terms are frequently used interchangeably, they do have subtle differences in meaning, and each term has its own significance. We'll be exploring these terms in greater detail later on in this article, as well as looking at how they relate to intonation.
Prosody is another word you might have come by in your English Language studies, and it is an important term to distinguish from intonation. We will now be looking at the definition of prosody and how it fits in with intonation.

Difference Between Prosody and Intonation

With the above definition of intonation in mind, how does it differ from prosody? The two terms are closely linked, but despite having similar meanings, they are not the same thing.

Definition:
Prosody refers to the patterns of intonation and rhythm that exist in a language.

You can see that prosody is an umbrella term under which intonation falls. Prosody refers to the undulation (wavelike movement or seamless up-and-down motion) of pitch across a language as a whole, whereas intonation is more concerned with an individual's speech.

In other words, "intonation" is a prosodic feature.

Definition: