This book illustrates an approach to prosodic typology through the intonational phonology of thirteen typologically different languages and the transcription system of prosody known as Tones and Break Indices (ToBI). This is the first book introducing the history and principles of this system,

and it covers European languages, Asian languages, an Australian aboriginal language, and an American Indian language. It is the first book on intonation that includes sound files on a CD-ROM.