Pitch Accent Checksheet for Beginners

[SHAD0W]

Will be marking higher pitched sounds with bold, while font is in white Thanks for making another one, was looking forward to this.


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



I'm probably miles out. I had to say them aloud many times to see what felt right, and imagine hearing it on TV or wherever. Thanks again

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by masaegu

TBH, I do not seem to understand what you are trying to say here.

When we talk about 'stress' in Engligh, it's nothing to do with pitch. It's that certain words in a sentence, or certain parts of words are said more strongly than others. I can say 'photographer' in a flat voice, but it still has the 'tog' syllable stressed. Or I can say it in a crazy up and down voice but it still has all the emphasis on 'tog'.

does that help?

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by Columbine

When we talk about 'stress' in Engligh, it's nothing to do with pitch. It's that certain words in a sentence, or certain parts of words are said more strongly than others. I can say 'photographer' in a flat voice, but it still has the 'tog' syllable stressed. Or I can say it in a crazy up and down voice but it still has all the emphasis on 'tog'.

does that help?

I understand what you are trying to say here. What I do not understand is how this affected your answers when words were given all by themselves without any context. Among the ones you did not get correct, for exmple 町（まち）, the high pitch accent is on the ち. Were you putting the stress on the ま in your head for any reason?　Or how is it even possible to place the stress on the first syllable and the high pitch accent on the second?

It is the "musical" pitch (high vs. low) in Japanese words that is the counterpart of the stress (strong vs. weak) in English words. 町 is pronounced like "do-mi", not "weak-strong" as in the English word "delay".

[masaegu]

ANSWERS PART II

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

Regarding #8 and #9, what is interesting is that even if the feminine name is written with the kanji 雪, it will be pronounced as　ゆき, which is dいfferent from how 雪 is pronounced as a regular noun.

A similar phenomenon is seen in the place name 渋谷（しぶや）as opposed to the family name 渋谷（しぶや）.

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by masaegu

I understand what you are trying to say here. What I do not understand is how this affected your answers when words were given all by themselves without any context. Among the ones you did not get correct, for exmple 町（まち）, the high pitch accent is on the ち. Were you putting the stress on the ま in your head for any reason?　Or how is it even possible to place the stress on the first syllable and the high pitch accent on the second?

It is the "musical" pitch (high vs. low) in Japanese words that is the counterpart of the stress (strong vs. weak) in English words. 町 is pronounced like "do-mi", not "weak-strong" as in the English word "delay".

I was randomly looking for weak-strong or strong-weak in Japanese and not thinking about the pitch at all, so yes, in my head, I was using the wrong stress. Which I never normally do! Long story short it was probably the result of a long day drilling students on intonation in English!

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