Short vowels, if they carry the accent, have only a rising tone (noted from the Alexandrian grammarians onward by the sign of the acute accent); long vowels or diphthongs may have either a rising tone (noted by the acute accent) or a rising tone followed by a falling tone (noted by the circumflex).
In a statement late Thursday, Mr. Sarkozy adopted a conciliatory tone, noting that the public had "legitimate concerns".
In 2007, as the citations piled up, the self-regulatory groups took a more aggressive tone, noting that the hedge fund had been "repeatedly" flagged for suspicious trading.
Tuesday's meeting began with an address by Speaker Robert W. Harrell Jr., a Republican, who struck a cautionary tone, noting that voters had bigger concerns.
But the president was not softening his partisan tone, noting that his job-creation ideas could be paid for if Republicans were willing to allow millionaires pay somewhat more in taxes.
After days of rising alarm on the part of American officials, Mr. Gates tried to strike a more sanguine tone, noting that the Taliban move into the district of Buner, near Islamabad, had "set off an alarm bell" in Pakistan.
BEHIND THE NEWS Though the ceremony featured its share of pomp and symbolism, officials avoided striking a triumphal tone, noting that insurgent violence continued to claim Iraqi and American lives and that, while Iraqi security forces were improving, the country's civilian institutions still had far to go in restoring normal life.
Ms. Cyrus can be a striking singer, both in power (see her 2009 ballad "The Climb") and also in tone (note the husk in her voice on "See You Again," from 2008, one of her first signs of post-Disney life).
In the second letter, Frankie L. Trull, writing on behalf of the National Association for Biomedical Research, expressed concern about what she perceived as an overly sympathetic tone, noting that "[f]or years, many biomedical researchers, their staff, and their families have been egregiously targeted by PETA and understandably are demoralized.
Wali acknowledges that there's no promise that that will happen, but sounds an optimistic tone, noting the "explosion in the number of exchanges" and offering that Merit will "work its way up that list, approaching the smaller exchanges first and, as the adoption of Merit grows, presenting a stronger case to go after bigger exchanges".
