How are inflections significant?

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One time, at the Sunday night dinner, I donated some meal items to the serving tables, so I contributed to the dinner that night.

After I filled my plates, I decided to eat elsewhere so after I started to leave, Katie spotted me leaving and came after me.

Being of the bossy nature that's just typical of her, she "forced" me to come back. I told her I already contributed by donating something to the dinner so I wish no one would demand too much of me at this point.

Then she said, "There's contributing, then there's contributing."

I spouted, "You just said the same word twice!"

Her response was, "Yeah, I was "inflecting.""

I wanted to rant to her that "When I think of "inflecting," I think of shining a flashlight into a mirror" but kept that thought to myself. I didn't get to ask her, "In your own words, why do you think inflecting is so significant" but maybe I should have.

I've learned that inflections are essential (even integral) in Chinese, but why aren't inflections taught in English anything like how they're taught in Chinese?

And in your own words, how are inflections significant?

(PS: Would anyone care to tell us how inflections altered history?
1. Did they cause and stop wars?
2. Did they make a business deal go sweet or sour?
3. Did they lead to saving or taking lives?
4. Did they make someone pass / win or fail / lose at something?
5. Did they cause inventions to be designed the right way or the wrong way?) <-- Could inflections really have the kind of significance that alters history in these ways?

Technically, what you're talking about is not inflection, but tone.

English is a non-tonal language. What this means is that (usually) tone is not semantic in English, which means that tone cannot fundamentally affect the meaning of an English utterance.

You have stumbled upon one of the very few cases where tone can be semantic in English. Another famous case is that in English you can transform a statement into an informal question using tone.

Thank you.

What more can others say about how inflections are significant, and would anyone care to answer the numbered questions on the OP?

They aren't life or death, but trying to understand them is fairly important if you want to catch the nuances when trying to communicate with someone in person. I doubt she feels that it's life or death either. It's just something that a lot of people do.

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You should wear a button that says you are "tone deaf".

Or not, because then you'd have to repeatedly explain the joke. lol.

A lot of meaning from conversation is derived from tone, and usually when there's a change in tone, the words themselves take on a different or implied meaning. The example you've described is a good one: when she explained that you needed to contribute, she wanted you to stick around and socialize with everyone, as opposed to just going there and simply contributing items to the meal. If you're at an event like the one you've described, the expectation is that you sit around and eat with eveyone instead of running off and getting your own dinner, and it seems like she was trying to guide you on this expectation.

As for the questions, it's possible that things like the examples you've described could have happened, but it's hard to think of any specific examples.

inflections are indeed vital in chinese, where they can mean the difference between "thank you for inviting me" and "what kind of douchbag are you anyway".
however, in english they do have a matter of importance, changing the implied meaning.
this is also a reason why it is hard for aspies to understand sarcasm, since that also relies on detecting and translating inflections.

It's all to do with meta-communication, which is defined by Wikipedia like this:

"Human communication, in addition to verbal communication, involves kinesic and paralinguistic elements which can be seen as metacommunicative signals i.e. messages about messages. These indicate how the verbal communication should be understood and interpreted. Meaning does not depend only on literal verbal meaning, but is codetermined in a critical way by the intensity and inflection of the voice, facial expression, accompanying gestures, secondary signals sent to bystanders, etc. The same verbal message framed by different metacommunication can mean something entirely different, including its opposite."

As an example, think about a guy coming home from work and asking his wife "How was your day?" His wife replies, "Fine."

Now depending on how exactly the word was said, what inflection, tone, body language and facial expression was involved, this response could mean almost anything. For example, "Fine" said simply with soft inflection, light tone, open body language and genuinely calm facial expression might mean exactly what you'd think it means - 'fine.' But change just one of those variables and "Fine" could actually mean "why the hell do you care, you left all your beer bottles around the house last night for me to clear this morning and you'd better understand that I'm not happy about it", or perhaps "I've had a horrible day, everything went wrong and I just want to sit on the lounge eating ice-cream with you hugging me."

So do you think it's important that the guy picks up on the inflection and other meta-communication signals? Oh yes. If he doesn't want a row and accusation of "you never listen to me" later down the line, that is.

It's just part of communication. We communicate to others all the time, not just when we're talking with them. I can communicate to you that I'm not interested in what you're saying by playing with my iphone while you're talking, or that I'm really interested in what you're saying by leaning towards you slightly and displaying a thoughtful expression. I can let a friend know that I'm annoyed with them by simply sighing before answering a question they've asked, and using a flat tone. Communication does not just flow verbally, in fact, only an incredibly small amount of communication flows this way. Here's how A. Barbour, author of 'Louder Than Words: Nonverbal Communication' breaks down the total impact of a message:

7 percent verbal (words)

38 percent vocal (volume, pitch, rhythm, etc)

55 percent body movements (mostly facial expressions)

I.e. 93% is meta-communication! Since the intonation you're describing (which in your example of Katie would have actually been a mixture of intonation, tone, volume, rhythm and facial expression) is essentially the most important part of communication, the answer to your questions would have to be yes! Of course meta-communication is involved in wars, business deals and inventions, because it's a huge part of what communication is.

Or are you actually asking whether not picking up intonation can/has lead to wars, business deals and inventions? Since all these are complex, multifactorial occurances it woud be almost impossible to say (people have dedicated their lives to understanding what goes into starting/ending wars). But not picking up on meta-communication (i.e. non-verbal cues) is one of the reasons AS is considered a disorder, because not being able to do it can hinder relationships, school and job opportunities. Significant much? I think so.