Pitch Accent Checksheet for Beginners

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I didn't even try answering as I simply cannot do these.
Even if I can *say* the words correctly, I am just guessing when it comes to answering on paper.

Oh, come now. We all know you have a weird, hick Japanese accent!

Like how they flip things in Kansai. Instead of the pitch on が (I think), it's on the とう or something. I dunno. I can kind of mimic the difference there, but don't know how to write it.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

Oh, come now. We all know you have a weird, hick Japanese accent!

Like how they flip things in Kansai. Instead of the pitch on が (I think), it's on the とう or something. I dunno. I can kind of mimic the difference there, but don't know how to write it.

If it were just Japanese, I would consider that a possibility... But I have even more trouble with these in English. With the examples Masaegu gave of dictionary.... I honestly read it aloud, tried all the different accents, and still wondered which I say in normal situations. Just trying it out of the blue, and I think I emphasize the end of the second syllable, but then that is supposed to be wrong.... And i have never been told I have an odd accent in English, so I must be misinterpeting things. I *think* I am saying dictionary... Which I am completely sure would be marked as incorrect if I were being tested on it.

I just REALLY suck at any questions pertaining to accent or tone.
I am sure that my Japanese accent isn't entirely standard as I have lived in Aichi my entire time in Japan - plus, Tokyoites just sound different to me. But if asked to pinpoint where the accents and tones are different, I am the last person you want to ask.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by Columbine

失敗しました　（w）actually, I did the task wrong! I put word stress, not pitch stress

TBH, I do not seem to understand what you are trying to say here. Could you rephrase it in French or Japanese for me? j/k (But I am not kidding about the fact that I do not understand it.)

When Japanese words are pronounced all by themselves without particular context, the syllables with the highest pitch accents are the syllables that are naturally stressed.

The impression that I had while reading your answers was that you were somewhat Kansai-influenced. 　

しかし、日本語を話すと、日本人がよく「きれいな発音 」と言っています。嘘かな〜

う～ん、どうでしょう。私が人に「いいジャケットです ね。」と言う場合、５回のうち４回は嘘です。

[masaegu]

I found an online pitch accent dictionary if you are interested.

http://accent.u-biq.org/a.html

I am still trying to re-find the one that gives you the actual pronunciation by a professional announcer, which I once gave to Maxful here but forgot to keep for myself.

Maxful, please post the link if you have kept it. And do forgive me if it was not you to whom I gave it.

[SHAD0W]

Oh man, you gave away the answers too early, I was hoping to respond to this tonight. Nevermind, Maybe next time. Thanks for the information though, will certainly help improve my studies.

[TerenceLau]

Aww man. I guess for pitch accents in Japanese and English, I just go with the way my teachers and peers speak. When I tried the Japanese words out loud, they all sounded rather flat to me; or it's really difficult for me to tell the pitch.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by SHAD0W

Oh man, you gave away the answers too early, I was hoping to respond to this tonight. Nevermind, Maybe next time. Thanks for the information though, will certainly help improve my studies.

Oh laddie, I had waited two whole days, which felt like forever to me!

Learning the pitch accent will not only help improve your pronunciation but also your listening comprehension.

Here is a new one just for you, then. Others are welcoem to answer as well but let us use the font color "White" to answer this time. I do not know if one can use both red and white. In case one cannot, please either underline or bold the syllables that receive the high pitch accent and then conceal your answers in font "White" before submitting them. Thanks!


１．　色（いろ）　　２．白（しろ）　　３．黒（くろ ）

４．　机（つくえ）　　５．　椅子（いす）　　

６．　雲（くも）　　７．雨（あめ）　　８．雪（ゆき ）　　９．ゆき as a feminine name

１０．　北（きた）　　１１．来た（きた）　　１２． 着た（きた） "wore"　

１３．　買った（かった）　　１４．勝った（かった） "won"　

１５．　います　　１６．　あります

１７．　オタク　　１８．　ポケモン

１９．　高い（たかい）　　２０．　安い（やすい）　 　２１．　きれい　　２２．　おいしい

２３．　ロンドン　　２４．　パリ　　２５．　東京（ とうきょう）　　２６．　ヨークシャー

２７．　テレビ　　２８．　コーラ　　２９．　コーヒ ー　　３０．　ラーメン

[KyleGoetz]

All but one is a completely random guess. A few I tried to imagine natives saying to me, but that didn't help very much.
１．　色（いろ）　　２．白（しろ）　　３．黒（くろ）

４．　机（つくえ）　　５．　椅子（いす）　　

６．　雲（くも）　　７．雨（あめ）　　８．雪（ゆき）　　９．ゆき as a feminine name

１０．　北（きた）　　１１．来た（きた）　　１２．着た（きた） "wore"　

１３．　買った（かった）　　１４．勝った（かった） "won"　

１５．　います　　１６．　あります

１７．　オタク　　１８．　ポケモン

１９．　高い（たかい）　　２０．　安い（やすい）　　２１．　きれい　　２２．　おいしい

２３．　ロンドン　　２４．　パリ　　２５．　東京（とうきょう）　　２６．　ヨークシャー

２７．　テレビ　　２８．　コーラ　　２９．　コーヒー　　３０．　ラーメン

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

All but one is a completely random guess. A few I tried to imagine natives saying to me, but that didn't help very much.

I am getting really intrigued in this thread because when I learned English back in school, we had to learn where the primary accent was (as well as the spelling and meaning) every time we learned a new word consisting of multiple syllables. So I just always assumed Japanese was taught the same way outside of Japan. At least, that is how I would teach Japanese if I were to teach it as a foreign language.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by masaegu

I am getting really intrigued in this thread because when I learned English back in school, we had to learn where the primary accent was (as well as the spelling and meaning) every time we learned a new word consisting of multiple syllables. So I just always assumed Japanese was taught the same way outside of Japan. At least, that is how I would teach Japanese if I were to teach it as a foreign language.

Sadly, it's not.

But now I think I'll start doing that. Like I said, I've always tried to speak as flatly as possible. When beginning my studies, I was unaware of the importance of pitch; I only recognized there was no stress like in English. Mimicking that meant speaking flatly. I don't remember when I was taught about pitch accent, but it wasn't my first semester, that's for sure.