pronunciation.intonation-questions
Question intonation: rise vs fall
Yes/no questions rise at the end (¿Vienes mañana?↗) — intonation is often the ONLY question marker. Question-word questions fall like statements (¿Dónde vives?↘).
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Explanation
Since word order may not change, the final rise carries the whole interrogative load in ¿trabajás acá?↗. Practice minimal pairs: viene mañana↘ (statement) / ¿viene mañana?↗.
Wh-questions start high on the question word and descend: ¿CUÁNto cuesta?↘. A rise on these signals surprise or echo (¿dónde?↗ = 'where did you say?').
Because Spanish word order often doesn't change, the final rise can be the entire question: ¿trabajás acá?↗ differs from trabajás acá↘ by pitch alone. The split to remember: yes/no questions rise at the end, but wh-questions start high on the question word and fall like statements (¿CUÁNto cuesta?↘) — a rise on a wh-question instead signals surprise or an echo.
Examples
Do you have change?
Region: global
How did you get here?
Region: global
'Is he coming tomorrow?' (rising) versus 'When is he coming?' (falling).
Region: global