This chapter focuses on a different level of linguistic structure (intonation) and on a different dimension of the three-way identity struggle, emphasizing the role of Jewish ethnicity in Israeli national identity. While Mizrahim have abandoned some of the stereotyped (linguistic) markers of their ethnicity, they continue to exhibit identity difference through language. Examination of the distribution and social meaning of one particular pitch contour, a phrase-final rise-fall, suggests that the linguistic marking of Jewish ethnicity in Israel has shifted from phonology to intonation.

This chapter focuses on a different level of linguistic structure (intonation) and on a different dimension of the three-way identity struggle, emphasizing the role of Jewish ethnicity in Israeli national identity. While Mizrahim have abandoned some of the stereotyped (linguistic) markers of their ethnicity, they continue to exhibit identity difference through language. Examination of the distribution and social meaning of one particular pitch contour, a phrase-final rise-fall, suggests that the linguistic marking of Jewish ethnicity in Israel has shifted from phonology to intonation.