Pitch Accent Checksheet for Beginners
 

How have you been pronouncing these short, basic words? For each word, highlight in red the kana (the syllable) that receives the highest pitch accent in Standard Japanese.

Example in English: dictionary

I would sound pretty strange if I pronounced it like dictionary or dictionary, would I not? Well, that is exactly how your Japanese would sound if you placed the accent on the wrong syllables.


１．空（そら）、　２．海（うみ）、　３．川（かわ）

４．町（まち）、　５．家（いえ）、　６．花（はな）

７．行く（いく）、　８．来る（くる）、　９．住む（ すむ）

１０．歩く（あるく）、　１１．走る（はしる）、　１ ２．食べる（たべる）

１３．ある、　１４．いる

１５．ボク、　１６．オレ

１７．若い（わかい）、　１８．すごい、　１９．楽し い（たのしい）

２０．スミス、　２１．ジョンソン、　２２．ラジオ

難しいそう！ では、やってみます。。。

１．空（そら）、　２．海（うみ）、　３．川（かわ）

４．町（まち）、　５．家（いえ）、　６．花（はな）

７．行く（いく）、　８．来る（くる）、　９．住む（すむ）

１０．歩く（あるく）、　１１．走る（はしる）、　１２．食べる（たべる）

１３．ある、　１４．いる

１５．ボク、　１６．オレ

１７．若い（わかい）、　１８．すごい、　１９．楽しい（たのしい）

２０．スミス、　２１．ジョンソン、　２２．ラジオ

Thanks Columbine! I love an active learner!

SVP, alllow me to make corrections unrelated to the thread.

難しいそう(です or だ) = "I have heard it is difficult.", "They say it is difficult.", etc.
難しそう = "It looks difficult."

あっ〜間違いました。＾＾ありがとう、まさえぐさん。

ANSWERS!

A single response was not what I had expected but so be it. I frankly do not know what to do to be of help on JF anymore. Maybe this one was too easy with such short words. Raise your hand if you want an intermediate or advanced version of this. I will do it if more than a few people want it AND promise to do it.

１．空（そら）、　２．海（うみ）、　３．川（かわ）

４．町（まち）、　５．家（いえ）、　６．花（はな）

７．行く（いく）、　８．来る（くる）、　９．住む（すむ）

１０．歩く（あるく）、　１１．走る（はしる）、　１２．食べる（たべる）

１３．ある、　１４．いる

１５．ボク、　１６．オレ

１７．若い（わかい）、　１８．すごい、　１９．楽しい（たのしい）

２０．スミス、　２１．ジョンソン、　２２．ラジオ

NOTE: 「ボク」 is the correct way to pronounce the word originally but its pitch accent has been shifting in the last few decades. Currently, 「ボク」 is VERY often heard around Kanto, so I am going to call both correct.

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

I appreciated this, but I didn't have time to answer. I'm sorry. This was going to honestly require some thought on my part; time that I didn't have. I came here today, in fact, just to say I appreciate this but don't have time to answer, and I saw you'd already posted the answers. Doh!

I started a new job last Monday and I've been flying across the country for the past two weeks. I'm also in a musical and am rehearsing a lot.

I'm sorry!

Looking at this, the only one I would have definitely gotten right was はな because I remember basically that 花は上に伸びる。鼻は下に。 (flower = LH/HH, nose = HL)

Similarly, 雨は下に落ちる。This is how I remember whether rain or coughdrops gets the め to be a higher pitch (HL = rain, HH/LH = coughdrop/hard candy)

Also I memorized 橋／箸 using a similar mnemonic. But most words I absolutely don't know the pitches for. I just stay as flat as possible to minimize my Americanality.

There aren't really any rules, right? I mean in the "I before E, except after C and when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh" sense of rules. It's completely random for each word? So I can't memorize some simple rules, right? I'd have to basically learn all over again for every new word?

Apparently　雨 is the one thing I say that gives away that I learnt in Osaka, because it's often said LH there. 雨や！

There are no rules, period. Words are pronounced differently in each dialect to start with, which is why I said "Standard Japanese" in my opening post. In each dialect, the pitch accent on each word has been determined arbitrarily in its early developement just as words themselves (their sound combinations) were arbitrary.

The reason that I created this thread is that I have been watching many Youtube videos in which Japanese-learners speak Japanese and I have become so certain that many of these people are simply unaware of the existence of pitch accent and therefore are placing random accents or speaking just flatly. These habbits can make it very difficult for us native speakers to understand what they are saying.

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. I can't even do it for English.

I suck so incredibly at these that I am sure I would get half of them wrong, English or Japanese. :mtongue: When pointed out to me, I can agree that yes, I say something in one way or another... But if asked how do I say it out of context, I am seriously at a loss.

I think I am probably the only native English speaking student who failed a Japanese high school English test on pitch and accent. orz

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.

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. 　

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。;)

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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 :D

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".

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）.

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