The evidence on the acquisition of intonation by children is reviewed. Reports on the early use of pitch contours fall into two categories, imitational and differential intonation. While imitational intonation is based on mimicry of adults, differential intonation involves the acquisition of two or three tunes that contrast in meaning from an early age. The acquisition of innate falls, later tunes, and intonation comprehension is discussed. From the limited available evidence, it is concluded that the use of some forms of intonation is present even during the babbling stage, that the use of intonation to convey some of the same meanings conveyed by adult language is also present from an early age, and that children over the age of 10 years are still developing toward the complexity of adult intonation patterns. Even adults develop highly varying levels of intonational competence and continue to develop new intonational skills. References are appended. (RW)