Jump to content

Japanese pitch accent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Japanese pitch-accent types
  Keihan type (pitch drop plus tone)
  Tokyo type (variable pitch drop)
  N-kei (1-3 pattern) type (fixed pitch drop)
  No accent
  intermediate (Tokyo–Keihan)
  intermediate (Tokyo–none)
Pitch-accent systems of Japanese. Blues: Tokyo type. Yellow-orange: Kyoto–Osaka (Keihan) type. Pink: Two-pattern accent. White: No accent. Speckled areas are ambiguous.

Japanese pitch accent is an important part of the prosody of Japanese, which involves making a certain melody with a series of "high" and "low" pitches, or tones, on a given utterance. Pitch accent is contrastive and can help distinguish words in Japanese, similarly to stress accent in English and contour tones in Chinese. The most studied accent system is of the Tokyo dialect, which differs from other systems such as Kansai or Kyushu.

Reading of the first two paragraphs of the chapter 1 of Botchan in the Tokyo accent
Reading of the same part of Botchan in the Kansai accent

Tokyo accent

[edit]

This section deals principally with the accent of modern standard Japanese, the Yamanote variety of the Tokyo dialect.[1]

Accentual falls and lowering nuclei

[edit]

In contrast to stress accent (強弱アクセント[2][3]・強さアクセント[4], kyōjaku akusento/tsuyosa akusento; lit. 'strong-and-weak accent/strength accent') in English, Japanese is said to have pitch accent (高低アクセント[2][5]・高さアクセント[6], kōtei akusento/takasa akusento; lit. 'high-and-low accent/height accent'). This means that Japanese speakers make primary use of pitch to distinguish words, while English speakers also make use of length, articulatory strength and vowel quality.[7]

Japanese pitch accent is characterized as "a steep drop from a relatively high pitch to a relatively low pitch,"[8] henceforth an "accentual fall" or "accentual drop."[9] In Tokyo Japanese, it is the presence or absence, as well as the exact location, of the accentual fall within an utterance that are lexically contrastive, not the exact pitch contour. This sets Japanese apart as a "pitch-accent" language, as opposed to a "tone" language such as Mandarin, where it is the pitch contour of a word that is contrastive.[10]

The mora at the start of an accentual fall can be called "accented,"[11] or an "accent nucleus" or "accent kernel"[12] (アクセント核, akusentokaku). It carries a high tone and is followed by a mora with a low tone and can be termed the "lowering nucleus/kernel" (下げ核, sagekaku).[13][14]

Accent patterns

[edit]

Tokyo Japanese belongs to a group of dialects with n+1-pattern accent (n+1型アクセント). This means that a Tokyo noun phrase with n morae has, theoretically, n possible locations for the nucleus, as well as not having a nucleus at all, hence n+1 possible patterns in total;[15] however, nouns with five or more morae do not have all n+1 possibilities, but at most four.[16] Other dialects may only have 2- (such as in the Kagoshima dialect) or 3-pattern (such as in the Goka dialect) accent.[17][18]

The n+1 possibilities of accent patterns can be classified as follows (in the diagrams to the right, the nuclei are marked in red):[19][20][21]

  • Unaccented/Atonic (平板式・平板型・無核型, heibanshiki/heibangata/mukakugata; lit. 'flat-style/flat-pattern/unnucleated'): The phrase in question has no nucleus. An unaccented phrase can be of any length.
  • Accented/Tonic (起伏式・起伏型・有核型, kifukushiki/kifukugata/yūkakugata; lit. 'up-and-down-style/up-and-down-pattern/nucleated'): The phrase has exactly one nucleus which is the first mora, the nth mora, or any mora between them.
    • Initial-accented (頭高型, atamadakagata; lit. 'high-head-pattern'): The nucleus is the first mora. An initial-accented phrase can be of any length. An initial-accented unimoraic phrase is accentually indistinguishable from an unaccented unimoraic phrase, and the accent in this particular case is only realized before a particle or auxiliary.
    • Medial-/Internal-accented (中高型, nakadakagata; lit. 'high-middle-pattern'): The nucleus is neither the first nor last mora. Thus, a medial-accented phrase must necessarily be trimoraic or longer.
    • Final-accented (尾高型, odakagata; lit. 'high-tail-pattern'): The nucleus is the last mora, but not simultaneously the first mora in a unimoraic phrase which, if accented, would be initial-accented instead. Thus, a final-accented phrase must necessarily be bimoraic or longer; it is accentually indistinguishable from an unaccented phrase, and the accent is only realized before a particle or auxiliary. Final accent is the least productive pattern in nucleus-based dialects such as Tokyo-style and Kyoto–Osaka-style dialects, and it is unlikely to occur in newer words.[22]

The actual pitch pattern of a final-accented phrase is generally considered indistinguishable from that of an unaccented phrase. The "final" accent of a word only surfaces as "medial" accent when it is followed by a particle or auxiliary, which is also the only time when a final-accented word is indeed distinct from an unaccented one.[23] However, there are indeed some speakers who do make distinctions between no accent and final accent, for example by raising the overall pitch contour on the final-accented hana (花; /haná/ 'a flower') higher than on the unaccented hana (鼻; /hana/ 'a nose').[24] In one experiment, one college-educated female Tokyo speaker was able to not only produce a consistent, better-than-chance distinction between no accent and final accent, but to also perceive it consistently when she was listening to her own recordings, something none of the other subjects could do.[25]

The phonetic accent contour

[edit]

The actual pitch pattern is not simply a fluctuation between some "high" and "low" tones, but is a phonetically complex contour. In an accented phrase, the basic contour:[26]

  1. Starts from a relatively low pitch on the first mora;
  2. Rises sharply to a relatively high pitch on the second mora;
  3. Continues to rise higher to the highest pitch on the nuclear mora; the "high" on the nucleus is actually higher than the "high" on the second mora;
  4. Falls sharply to a very low pitch on the postnuclear mora;
  5. Declines further to the last mora.

In contrast, in an unaccented phrase, the basic contour:

  1. Starts from a relatively low pitch on the first mora;
  2. Rises sharply to a relatively high pitch on the second mora;
  3. Declines gradually towards a relatively low pitch on the last mora.

Note that even though the two contours seem to have the same beginning, the first and second mora tend to be slightly higher in the accented contour than in the unaccented one, although this difference is negligible.[27]

Even in an unaccented phrase, the contour declines towards the end of the phrase; and in an accented phrase, the "low" pitch on the postnuclear mora continues to decline as well. Both these cases exemplify a phonetic feature known as "declination".[28][29]

Initial lowering

[edit]
Examples of accent in Tokyo Japanese nouns[30][31]
Pattern Unimora Bimora Trimora
Unaccented ki (気; 'spirits')
/ki/
/ki wa/		 hashi (端; 'an edge')
/haɕi/
/haɕi wa/		 sakura (桜; 'a cherry blossom')
/sakɯɾa/
/sakɯɾa wa/
Final-accented none hashi (橋; 'a bridge')
/haɕi/
/haɕi wa/		 yasumi (休み; 'rest')
/jasɯmi/
/jasɯmi wa/
Initial-accented ki (木; 'a tree')
/ki/
/ki wa/		 hashi (箸; 'a chopstick')
/haɕi/
/haɕi wa/		 midori (緑; 'green')
/midoɾi/
/midoɾi wa/
Medial-accented none okashi (お菓子; 'a sweet')
/okaɕi/
/okaɕi wa/

Henceforth, the complex pitch contour can be simplified into a dichotomy of "highs" and "lows" as follows (the corner indicates an accentual fall):[a]

  • Accented: μμμμμμ
  • Unaccented: μμμμμμ

In both cases, that the first mora has a low tone and the second mora a high tone is referred to as "initial lowering"[32] or "initial dissimilation".[33] This is a phonetic feature whose possible function is to demarcate the beginning of a phrase in Tokyo Japanese.[34] It is a predictable property of a phrase, not of a word.[35] Consider the following:

  • /pɯɾiNtaR ɡa/ ← purintā ga (プリンターが; 'printer')
  • /ano pɯɾiNtaR ɡa/ ← ano purintā ga (あのプリンターが; 'that printer')
  • /tomodacɕi̥ kaɾa kaɾita ano pɯɾiNtaR ɡa/ ← tomodachi kara karita ano purintā ga (友達から借りたあのプリンターが; 'that printer which I borrowed from my friend')
  • /kinoR tomodacɕi̥ kaɾa kaɾita ano pɯɾiNtaR ɡa/ ← kinō tomodachi kara karita ano purintā ga (昨日友達から借りたあのプリンターが; 'that printer which I borrowed from my friend yesterday')

In all these cases, initial lowering is never applied to any particular word, but to the entire phrase.[35][36] Other dialects may have "final lowering" (such as in the Hirosaki dialect) or "initial raising" (語頭隆起, gotō ryūki) (such as in the Bessho dialect in Yurihama, Tottori).[37][38]

A pitch track for two variant pronunciations of ki (黄; 'yellow') and ki o (黄を), based on four recordings of a male speaker.
A pitch track for two variant pronunciations of i (亥; 'the Boar') and i no (亥の), based on four recordings of a female speaker.
A pitch track for two variant pronunciations of kita (北; 'north') and kita o (北を), based on four recordings of a male speaker.
A pitch track for two variant pronunciations of mune (棟; 'a roof ridge') and mune o (棟を), based on four recordings of a male speaker.
All pitch tracks were drawn in Praat, with red and blue dashed lines added, based on recordings from the mobile application of NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025). Note the differences between the accented contours in red and the unaccented ones in blue, some of which are more marked than others.

The two aforementioned basic contours occur during the spans of several morae, which necessitates a minimum mora count, but there are not always enough morae for the contours to be fully realized. A unimoraic phrase only carries a high pitch of a would-be second mora, whether that phrase is supposed to be accented or not, making the initial-accented ki (木; /kí/; 'a tree') and the unaccented ki (気; /ki/; 'spirits') sound identical without a following particle or auxiliary. Similarly, a bimoraic phrase whose first mora is unaccented has room for initial lowering, but the second mora has the same high pitch whether it is accented or not, making the final-accented hana (花; /haná/; 'a flower') and the unaccented hana (鼻; /hana/; 'a nose') sound identical without a following particle or auxiliary. Note, still, that at least some speakers can consistently produce differences between ki (木; /kí/) and ki (気; /ki/), and between hana (花; /haná/) and hana (鼻; /hana/), as well as perceive those differences in their own speech.[39] An initial-accented bimoraic or longer phrase does not have room for initial lowering, and the pitch must peak immediately on the first mora, which still begins with a brief, albeit heavily compressed, initial rise from low to high. On the other hand, a second-accented trimoraic or longer phrase does not have room for the slight incline from the high on the second mora to the highest high on the nucleus, and the pitch must peak immediately on the second mora. Thus:[40]

  • Unimoraic, accented or not: μ
  • Bimoraic or longer, initial-accented: μμμμμμ
  • Bimoraic, accented or not: μμ
  • Trimoraic or longer, second-accented: μμμμμμ

Conventionally, accent dictionaries still make clear distinctions in notation between ki (木; /kí/), ki (気; /ki/), hana (花; /haná/) and hana (鼻; /hana/):[41][42]

  • Accented: キ, ハナ
  • Unaccented: キ, ハナ

Initial lowering may be optionally suppressed, which means that the unaccented first mora simply carries a high tone and flatly transitions into the second mora, if the second mora is /R/ (the lengthening mora) or /N/ (the moraic nasal);[43][44] in these cases, initial lowering has been said to occur only in "slow, careful, unnatural" enunciation.[32] If the second mora is /Q/ (the moraic obstruent), the initial rise only happens from the second to third mora. Thus:[33][44]

  • The second mora is lengthening: μRμμμμ ~ μRμμμμ
  • The second mora is nasal: μNμμμμ ~ μNμμμμ
  • The second mora is obstruent: μQμμμμ

For the sake of consistency, textbooks and pronunciation guides ignore all these variations and mark all notations with initial lowering:[45][46]

  • The second mora is lengthening: μRμμμμ
  • The second mora is nasal: μNμμμμ
  • The second mora is obstruent: μQμμμμ

Minor and major phrases

[edit]

Japanese accent is not realized on a word level, but on a phrase level. Even words when pronounced in isolation form their own phrases.[47]

A phrase on which one of the aforementioned accent contours is realized is called an "accent(ual) phrase" (アクセント節[48], akusentosetsu), "minor (phonological) phrase",[49][50][51] or "accent unit" (アクセント単位, akusento tan'i).[52] A minor phrase can have maximally one nucleus,[53] and begins with initial lowering. In this article, minor phrases are demarcated with a single vertical bar /|/[54] (the IPA symbol for a minor break): μμμμμ | μμμμμ.

Multiple minor phrases form together an "intermediate phrase", "intonation phrase", or "major (phonological) phrase".[55][50][51] In this article, major phrases are demarcated with a double vertical bar /‖/[54] (the IPA symbol for a major break): μμμμμ ‖ μμμμμ.

Downstep

[edit]

When an accented minor phrase precedes another accented or unaccented minor phrase, the pitch contour of the second is significantly lower. This is a phonetic feature known as "downstep", "downdrift", or "catathesis".[56][57][58][50] Downstep is said to produce a more natural-sounding contour, making downstepped highs successively lower after each nucleus, rather than keeping all highs equally high as one would in deliberate and slow enunciation.[56]

The domain of downstep is the major phrase,[50] in other words, across minor phrases rather than within them.

Combining minor phrases

[edit]

Shorter minor phrases can combine to make longer minor or major phrases. This is typical,[59] and separating minor phrases without special emphasis would make one sound artificial like a first-grade schoolchild reciting in class.[60] Accented and unaccented minor phrases combine differently; when two minor phrases combine:[61]

If the first minor phrase is unaccented, it can merge with the second minor phrase to form an even longer minor phrase. The second minor phrase no longer exists separately, and is thus "dephrased":

  • Unaccented + unaccented: μμμμμ | μμμμμ → μμμμμ μμμμμ
  • Unaccented + accented: μμμμμ | μμμμμ → μμμμμ μμμμμ

If the first minor phrase is accented, the two minor phrases can remain separate, with the second minor phrase beginning with initial lowering and becoming downstepped, which is marked here with a superscript downward arrow /ꜜ/ before the first downstepped high tone, although it is not impossible for the second phrase to be dephrased altogether:

  • Accented + unaccented: μμμμμ | μꜜμμμμ ~ μμμμμ μμμμμ
  • Accented + accented: μμμμμ | μꜜμμμμ ~ μμμμμ μμμμμ

In the above cases, if the first minor phrase is final-accented and the second minor phrase is an initial-accented particle or particle sequence, the latter is highly likely dephrased:[62]

  • Final-accented + initial-accented particle(s): μμμμμ | ꜜμμμ → μμμμμ μμμ

If a minor phrase is "focused" to convey particularly important information, its highest pitch is raised even higher. The focused unaccented first minor phrase stays separate instead of merging with the second minor phrase:

  • Unaccented (focused) + unaccented: μμμμμ | μμμμμ
  • Unaccented (focused) + accented: μμμμμ | μμμμμ
  • Accented (focused) + unaccented: μμμμμ | μꜜμμμμ
  • Accented (focused) + accented: μμμμμ | μꜜμμμμ

Focusing on the second minor phrase resets the pitch range and starts an entirely new major phrase, which means downstep does not apply:

  • Unaccented + unaccented (focused): μμμμμ ‖ μμμμμ
  • Unaccented + accented (focused): μμμμμ ‖ μμμμμ
  • Accented + unaccented (focused): μμμμμ ‖ μμμμμ
  • Accented + accented (focused): μμμμμ ‖ μμμμμ
Pitch tracks for different major phrasings, drawn in Praat, based on three recordings of a female speaker from the companion website of Kōri (2024). From top to bottom:
/kesa ‖ kaQta bakari no ‖ kasa o ‖ nakɯɕi̥ta/
/kesa ‖ kaQta bakari no | ꜜkasa o | naꜜkɯɕi̥ta/
/kesa | kaQꜜta bakari no | ꜜkasa o | naꜜkɯɕi̥ta/

Different major phrasings yield different meanings, even if all the words are exactly the same:[63][64]

  • umai sobaya ga aru (うまいそば屋がある)
    • /ɯmai ‖ sobaja ɡa | ꜜaɾɯ/ 'there's a good SOBA diner [not a curry diner]'
    • /ɯmai | soꜜbaja ɡa ‖ aɾɯ/ 'there IS a good soba diner'
  • kinō purintā ga kowareta (昨日プリンターが壊れた)
    • /kinoR pɯɾiNtaR ɡa kowaɾeta/ 'the printer broke yesterday'
    • /kinoR ‖ pɯɾiNtaR ɡa kowaɾeta/ 'what happened yesterday was the PRINTER broke [so I couldn't print my report]'
  • ototoi karita purintā ga kowareta (一昨日借りたプリンターが壊れた)
    • /ototoi kaɾita pɯɾiNtaR ɡa ‖ kowaɾeta/ 'the printer, which I borrowed the day before yesterday, broke'
    • /ototoi ‖ kaɾita pɯɾiNtaR ɡa kowaɾeta/ 'the printer, which I borrowed, broke the day before yesterday'
  • kesa katta bakari no kasa o nakushita (今朝買ったばかりの傘を無くした)
    • /kesa ‖ kaQta bakari no | ꜜkasa o | naꜜkɯɕi̥ta/ 'this morning, I lost the umbrella I'd just bought [I lost it this morning]'
    • /kesa | kaQꜜta bakari no | ꜜkasa o | naꜜkɯɕi̥ta/ 'I lost the umbrella I'd just bought this morning [I bought it this morning]'
  • Natsume Sōseki no Botchan ni deaimashita (夏目漱石のぼっちゃんに出会いました)
    • /natsɯme soRseki no ‖ boQcɕaN ni | deꜜaimaɕi̥ta/ 'I happened on Botchan by Natsume Sōseki [Botchan means his novel]'
    • /natsɯme soRseki no | ꜜboQcɕaN ni | deꜜaimaɕi̥ta/ 'I happened on Natsume Sōseki's son [botchan means his son]'

Accentuation, initial lowering and major phrasing can cooperatively help distinguish meanings in some extreme cases with identical consonantal and vocalic segments as follows:<span_lang="ja">解説</span></span>[[Category:Articles_containing_Japanese-language_text]]-66' id="mwA9o">[65]

  • /niwa | niꜜwatoɾi ɡa iɾɯ/ ← niwa tori ga iru (二羽鶏がいる; 'there are two chickens')
  • /niwa ni wa | toꜜɾi ɡa iɾɯ/ ← niwa ni wa tori ga iru (庭には鳥がいる; 'in the garden, there are birds')
  • /niwa ni wa | niꜜwatoɾi ɡa iɾɯ/ ← niwa ni wa niwatori ga iru (庭には鶏がいる; 'in the garden, there are chickens')
  • /niwa ni wa | ꜜniwa | toꜜɾi ɡa iɾɯ/ ← niwa ni wa niwa tori ga iru (庭には二羽鳥がいる; 'in the garden, there are two birds')
  • /niwa | niꜜwa ni wa | toꜜɾi ɡa iɾɯ/ ← niwa niwa ni wa tori ga iru (二羽庭には鳥がいる; 'two in the garden, there are birds')
  • /niwa ni wa | ꜜniwa | niꜜwatoɾi ɡa iɾɯ/ ← niwa ni wa niwatori ga iru (庭には二羽鶏がいる; 'in the garden, there are two chickens')
  • /niwa | niꜜwa ni wa | niꜜwatoɾi ɡa iɾɯ/ ← niwa niwa ni wa niwatori ga iru (二羽庭には鶏がいる; 'two in the garden, there are chickens')

Grammatical clauses are typically pronounced as major phrases:[66]

  • /taɾoR ɡa | jaꜜma e iQte ‖ hanako ɡa | ꜜɯmi e iQta/ ← Tarō ga yama e itte, Hanako ga umi e itta (太郎が山へ行って、花子が海へ行った; 'Tarō went to the mountain, and Hanako went to the sea')
  • /tanakasaN ɡa kɯɾɯ tsɯmoɾi da to ‖ hanako ɡa | koꜜtaete iQta/ ← Tanakasan ga kuru tsumori da to, Hanako ga kotaete itta (田中さんが来る積もりだと、花子が答えて言った; 'Hanako answered that Mr Tanaka intends to come')

Special and deficient morae

[edit]

Most morae are known as "autonomous/independent morae" (自立拍・自立モーラ, jiritsuhaku/jiritsu mōra) and they are capable of bearing an accent and being a nucleus. The morae that are not are known as "dependent morae" (非自立モーラ, hijiritsu mōra), "special morae" (特殊拍・特殊モーラ, tokushuhaku/tokushu mōra), "special phonemes" (特殊音素, tokushu onso), "special segments," "mora(ic) phonemes" (モーラ音素, mōra onso) or "moraic segments." There are four such morae:[67][68][69][70][71]

  • The mora(ic) nasal (撥音/撥ねる音, hatsuon/haneru on), spelt ん or ン in kana and notated phonologically /N/.
  • The mora(ic) obstruent (促音/詰まる音, sokuon/tsumaru on), spelt っ or ッ in kana and notated phonologically /Q/.
  • The second half of a long vowel, henceforth called the lengthening mora (引（き）音/長音, hikion~in'on/chōon), spelt あ・ア・い・イ・う・ウ・え・エ・お・オ・ー in kana and notated phonologically /R/ or /H/.
  • The second half of a "diphthong" (二重母音の後部母音, nijū boin no kōbu boin), henceforth called the offglide mora, spelt い・イ・う・ウ and notated phonologically, individually /i, ɯ/, or collectively /J/. Note that if /i, ɯ/ do not directly follow a vowel, or are the second half in /ii → iR, ɯɯ → ɯR/, they are not offglide morae. The "diphthongs" of Japanese include principally /ei, ai, oi, ɯi/ and less frequently /aɯ/ (/iɯ, eɯ, oɯ/ are probably not diphthongs).[72] /ei/ is alternatively pronounced /eR/ with a lengthening mora, except in ei (鱏; /éi/ 'a ray'), rei (レイ; /ɾéi/ 'a lei'), etc; and purportedly except across morpheme boundaries, perhaps in careful pronunciation, as in me-isha (眼医者; /mé-iɕa/ 'an oculist'; compare mei-sha (名車; /mei-ɕa ~ meR-ɕa/ 'a famous car')), yake-ishi (焼け石; /jake-iɕi/ 'a hot stone'), etc.[73][74][75]

Proponents of the Japanese "syllable" consider it a sequence of a autonomous mora optionally followed by a special mora.[76] Examples of Japanese "syllables" would be /a, aN, aQ, aR, ai, aɯ/. If a Tokyo syllable is to be accented, only its first mora is the actual nucleus, hence /a, aN, aQ, aR, ai, aɯ/. Henceforth, the nucleus is marked with an acute accent for simplicity, as in /á, áN, áQ, áR, ái, áɯ/.[77][54] The syllable is accentually more salient in other dialects, such as Kagoshima Japanese, and if a Kagoshima syllable is to carry a high tone, both its morae carry that high tone.[78]

The class of special morae are not the only ones that cannot be nuclei. In certain contexts, even "autonomous" morae can behave similarly in failing to be nuclei as well. These morae can form a larger class known as "deficient morae," which include morae with devoiced and/or epenthetic vowels.[79]

Accent shifts

[edit]

Since deficient morae cannot bear accent, if an accent rule would put an accent on them, an "accent shift" is necessitated.[80] Labrune (2012) counts all instances where an accent is not in the exact location generalized by a rule as "accent shifts;" Vance (2008) only counts instances involving devoiced and/or epenthetic vowels, and treat those involving special morae as "accented syllables" rather than "accented morae."

Consider the suffix ‑shi (市; 'a city'). The accent rule for it is that when it follows a city's name, it places an accent on that name's last mora:[81][82]

  • Ōsakashi (大阪県; 'Osaka City'): /oRsaká-ɕi/

If that last mora is special, a leftward shift is necessitated;[82] or, the above rule can be restated as "it places an accent on that name's last syllable":[83]

  • Leftward shift away from a moraic nasal: Muroranshi (室蘭市; 'Muroran City'): /*mɯɾoɾaŃ-ɕi → mɯɾoɾáN-ɕi/
  • Leftward shift away from a lengthening mora: Kitakyūshūshi (北九州市; 'Kitakyushu City'): /*ki̥takjɯRɕɯŔ-ɕi → ki̥takjɯRɕɯ́R-ɕi/
  • Leftward shift away from an offglide mora:
    • Sendaishi (仙台市; 'Sendai City'): /*seNdaí-ɕi → seNdái-ɕi/
    • Munbaishi (ムンバイ市; 'Mumbai City'): /*mɯNbaí-ɕi → mɯNbái-ɕi/
    • Hanoishi (ハノイ市; 'Hanoi City'): /*hanoí-ɕi → hanói-ɕi/
    • Bisaushi (ビサウ市; 'Bissau City'): /bisaɯ́-ɕi → ?bisáɯ-ɕi/
      Unlike /i/, /ɯ/ is not obligatorily treated as an offglide beat:[84][85]
    • chigau no (違うの; 'it's that it differs'): /cɕiɡaɯ́ no → ?cɕiɡáɯ no/
    • Donaugawa (ドナウ川; 'the Danube'): /donaɯ́-ɡawa → ?donáɯ-ɡawa/

Exceptions to these leftward shifts involve two consecutive special morae, in which case the accent usually stays on the first special mora and does not shift any further leftward. Compare the suffixes ‑bashi (橋), ‑jin (人) and ‑kko (っ子), the last of which is capable of causing two consecutive special morae:[86]

  • Rondonbashi (ロンドン橋; 'London Bridge'): /*ɾoNdoŃ-baɕi → ɾoNdóN-baɕi/
  • gendaijin (現代人; 'a modern person'): /*ɡeNdaíʑiN → ɡeNdái-ʑiN/
  • Rondonkko (ロンドンっ子; 'a Londoner'): /ɾoNdoŃ-Qko ?(→ ɾoNdóN-Qko)/
  • gendaikko (現代っ子; 'one of the kids these days'): /ɡeNdaí-Qko ?(→ ɡeNdái-Qko)/

Recent loanwords (外来語, gairaigo) may contain consecutive special morae to begin with, which blocks further shifts, or allows options with no shift:[87][88]

  • Rinkānhai (リンカーン杯; 'the Lincoln Cup'): /ɾiNkaRŃ-hai → ɾiNkaŔN-hai ?(→ ɾiNkáRN-hai)/
  • kōncha (コーン茶; 'corn tea'): /koRŃ-cɕa → koŔN-cɕa/
  • chēnten (チェーン店; 'a chain store'): /*cɕeRŃ-teN → cɕeŔN-teN → cɕéRN-teN/

The seemingly offglide mora /i/ in the sequences /iN/ and /iQ/ in loanwords can be a nucleus, compared to the actual offglide mora /i/ in the above examples. In the following examples, an accent is triggered by a suffix, or placed by default on the antepenultimate mora (the "antepenultimate rule"):[89]

  • Raingawa (ライン川; 'the Rhine'): /*ɾaiŃ-ɡawa → ɾaíN-ɡawa *(→ ɾáiN-ɡawa)/
  • Supeinkaze (スペイン風邪; 'Spanish flu'): /sɯ̥peiŃ-kaze → sɯ̥peíN-kaze *(→ sɯ̥péiN-kaze)/
  • koinshō (コイン商; 'a coin dealer'): /koiŃ-ɕoR → koíN-ɕoR *(→ kóiN-ɕoR)/
  • hoissuru (ホイッスル; 'a whistle'): /*hoiQ́sɯɾɯ → hoíQsɯɾɯ *(→ hóiQsɯɾɯ)/
  • sandoitchi (サンドイッチ; 'a sandwich'): /saNdoíQcɕi *(→ saNdóiQcɕi)/
  • kuikku (クイック; 'quick'): /kɯíQkɯ *(→ kɯ́iQkɯ)/

Accent dictionaries also claim a leftward shift is possible if the last mora is devoiced,[82][90] but this has been disputed as incorrect in the current paradigm.[91][92]

  • Leftward shift away from a devoiced vowel:
    • Nagasakishi (長崎市; 'Nagasaki City'): /naɡasakí̥-ɕi → ?naɡasáki̥-ɕi/
    • jūrokusai (十六歳; 'sixteen years old'): /ʑɯRɾokɯ̥́-sai → ?ʑɯRɾókɯ̥-sai/

A leftward shift away from a devoiced vowel, if indeed possible, is said to only happen if there are at least two morae before the devoiced vowel.[92] And unlike shifts away from special morae which are obligatory, shifts away from devoiced vowels are optional at best and increasingly infrequent. The current tendency is to keep the accent where it is supposed to be on the devoiced vowel.[93][94][95]

If there are less than two morae before an accented devoiced vowel, a rightward shift may occur instead.[94][96][97]

  • Rightward shift away from a devoiced vowel:
    • shiki (四季; 'the four seasons'): /ɕí̥ki → ɕi̥kí/
    • kite (来て; 'coming and'): /kí̥te → ?ki̥té/
    • futte (降って; 'descending and'): /ɸɯ̥́Qte → *ɸɯ̥Q́te → ?ɸɯ̥Qté/
    • Fusako (富佐子): /ɸɯ̥́sako → ?ɸɯ̥sáko/
    • Ichikawa (市川): /icɕí̥kawa → icɕi̥káwa/
    • Ashikaga (足利): /*aɕí̥kaɡa → aɕi̥káɡa/
    • rokusai (六歳; 'six years old'): /ɾokɯ̥́-sai → ?ɾokɯ̥-sái/
    • Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎): /katsɯ́ɕi̥ka | *hokɯ̥́sai → katsɯ́ɕi̥ka | hokɯ̥sái/

Examples of accent shifts away from the moraic obstruent /Q/ as a result of a suffix like ‑shi are less common.[98] They often contain the sequence /Qk/, which is a variant of /kɯ̥k/, or result from combinations of numerals and counters.

  • Leftward shift away from a devoiced vowel or a moraic obstruent:
    • shikakukei → shikakkei (四角形; 'a quadrilateral'): /ɕi̥kakɯ̥́-kei → ɕi̥kákɯ̥-kei → ɕi̥káQ-kei/
    • issai (一歳; 'one year old'): /*iQ́-sai → íQ-sai/

Loanwords often follow the antepenultimate rule,[99] and yet there seems to be a leftward shift away from an epenthetic vowel in certain words.[100]

  • Leftward shift away from an epenthetic vowel:
    • Amusuterudamu (アムステルダム): /*amɯsɯ̥teɾɯ́damɯ → amɯsɯ̥téɾɯdamɯ/ ← Dutch Amsterdam /ˌɑmstərˈdɑm/
    • enerugī (エネルギー; 'energy'): /eneɾɯ́ɡiR → enéɾɯɡiR/ ← German Energie /enɛʁˈɡiː/

Consecutive devoiceable vowels and accent

[edit]

When there are two consecutive devoiceable vowels, the regularly accented one has been said to stay voiced, although it is common nowadays for both of them to be devoiced.[101] Examples with contradictory claims would be adjectival gerunds ending in ‑shikute; compare:

  • /i/ is accented and voiced, /ɯ/ is devoiced: /kanaɕíkɯ̥te/[102][103]
  • /i/ devoiced, /ɯ/ is voiced, the accent shifts leftward: /kanáɕi̥kɯte/[102]
  • Both /i/ and /ɯ/ are devoiced, /i/ is accented: /kanaɕí̥kɯ̥te/[104][b]
  • Both /i/ and /ɯ/ are devoiced, the accent shifts leftward: /kanáɕi̥kɯ̥te/[103][105][c]

Pitch raising

[edit]

The defining characteristic of accent in Tokyo Japanese is a steep fall from a high tone on the nucleus to a low tone. This means that a nucleus is necessarily voiced for it to have any tone at all, much less specifically a high one, as tones are generated by voicing.[106][107] Yet, it is frequently the case that devoiced vowels, particularly the high vowels /i, ɯ/, are nuclear. The transition from an illusory, voiceless "high" to the following low is significantly different from an actual high, in that the pitch of the following low is higher in the former case. This phenomenon has been termed pitch raising.[108] Experiments have shown that a voiceless nucleus raises the pitch of the following low tone significantly. The degree of raising depends on how close the voiceless nucleus is to the low, which is raised the most when it comes right after the nucleus, for example in the nonsense test phrase /ɸɯ̥ɕi̥tsɯ̥́ to/. In this case, the low tone on /to/ is raised because of the voiceless nuclear "high" on /tsɯ̥́/. If the nuclear "high" and the low are separated by voiceless "lows," there is less pitch raising as the nuclear "high" becomes farther away from the low, as in /ɸɯ̥ɕí̥tsɯ̥ to/ and /ɸɯ̥́ɕi̥tsɯ̥ to/.[109] In the absence of a true accentual fall from high to low, pitch raising is the primary phonetic cue for perceiving the presence of a nucleus.[110]

Pitch raising is suppressed in the presence of a phrasal high, ie a high on a voiced segment before the voiceless nuclear "high." For example, in utsushi to (写しと; 'a copy'), whose nucleus is /ɕí/, which is devoiced before the quotative particle /to/, pitch raising is suppressed in /ɯtsɯɕí̥ to/ where the second /ɯ/ is voiced and bears a high (the first /ɯ/ is low due to initial lowering), but realized normally in /ɯtsɯ̥ɕí̥ to/ where /ɯ̥/ is voiceless and incapable of bearing any tone, much less a high.[111]

Pitch raising has been attributed to an overlap of activity between the cricothyroid and sternohyoid muscles, the former of which is said to regulate pitch but to still be active during devoicing, while the latter is said to cause pitch falls, in words where the nucleus is voiceless. Such overlap is not present in words where the nucleus is voiced.[112]

A pitch track for /átsɯ̥kɯ/ and /atsɯ̥́kɯ/, two variant pronunciations of atsuku (熱く; 'being hot'), based on two recordings of a female speaker.
A pitch track for /ɯɾéɕi̥kɯ/ and /ɯɾeɕí̥kɯ/, two variant pronunciations of ureshiku (嬉しく; 'being joyful'), based on two recordings of another female speaker. In the latter pronunciation, there is a phrasal high tone before the voiceless nucleus.
A pitch track for /ɕi̥kí/ (in blue) and /ɕí̥ki/ (in red), two variant pronunciations of shiki (四季; 'the four seasons'), as well as for /ɕi̥kí o/ (in blue) and /ɕí̥ki o/ (in red), based on four recordings of a male speaker.
All pitch tracks were drawn in Praat, with red and blue dashed lines added, based on recordings from the mobile application of NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025).

Accent rules

[edit]

Accentually minimal sets

[edit]
Minimal set demonstration
A recording of a native Tokyo speaker who demonstrates five accentually minimal sets.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In standard Japanese, about 47% of words are unaccented and around 26% are accented on the antepenultimate mora. However, this distribution is highly variable between word categories. For example, 70% of native nouns are unaccented, while only 50% of Sino-Japanese nouns and only 7% of recent loanwords are unaccented. In general, most uni- or bimoraic words are accented on the first mora, tri- or quadrimoraic words are unaccented, and words of greater length are almost always accented on one of the last five morae.[113]

The following table shows samples of minimal sets whose members contrast only by accent.

Samples of accentually minimal sets[114][115]
Unaccented ki (気; 'spirits') /ki/
/ki wa/		 sake (酒; 'liquor') /sake/
/sake wa/		 kaki (柿; 'an Oriental persimmon') /kaki/
/kaki wa/		 hashi (端; 'an edge') /haɕi/
/haɕi wa/		 hana (鼻; 'a nose') /hana/
/hana wa/
Final-accented kaki (垣; 'a fence') /kaki/
/kaki wa/		 hashi (橋; 'a bridge') /haɕi/
/haɕi wa/		 hana (花; 'a flower') /hana/
/hana wa/		 ima (居間; 'a living room')[d] /ima/
/ima wa/
Initial-accented ki (木; 'a tree') /ki/
/ki wa/		 sake (鮭; 'a chum salmon') /sake/
/sake wa/		 kaki (牡蠣; 'an oyster') /kaki/
/kaki wa/		 hashi (箸; 'a chopstick') /haɕi/
/haɕi wa/		 hana (端; 'an edge') /hana/
/hana wa/		 ima (今; 'now') /ima/
/ima wa/		 nihon (二本; 'two long and thin things') /nihoN/
/nihoN wa/
Medial-accented Nihon (日本; 'Japan') /nihoN/
/nihoN wa/

As previously said in #Accent patterns and #Initial lowering, without a following particle or auxiliary, it is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish words whose nuclei are their last morae from unaccented words. In 2014, a study recording the electrical activity of the brain showed that native Japanese speakers mainly use context, rather than pitch accent information, to contrast between words that differ only in pitch.[116]

Tokyo-style accent

[edit]

Accent systems that are concerned with the presence and location of the nucleus alone (n+1-pattern) have been termed Tokyo systems (東京式アクセント, Tōkyōshiki akusento).[117][118] The "lowering nucleus/kernel" (下げ核, sagekaku), or a nucleus that precedes an accentual fall, is characteristic of Tokyo Japanese, but it is by no means the only way for accent to be realized. For example, the Hirosaki (Aomori Prefecture) and Shizukuishi (Iwate Prefecture) dialects among others feature the "rising/ascending nucleus/kernel" (昇り核, noborikaku), which follows an accentual rise; and the Narada dialect (Yamanashi Prefecture) among others has the "raising nucleus" which precedes an accentual rise; the difference between a "rising" nucleus and a "raising" nucleus is that when the latter is at the end of a lexical word, the accentual rise is only realized on a following particle.[119][120]

Kyoto–Osaka-style accent

[edit]

Unlike in Tokyo-style (n+1) dialects where only the presence and location of the nucleus are contrastive, many dialects in Kansai and Shikoku also make use of contrastive tonal registers (式, shiki), which are the general trajectories of phrasal contours. Registers in these dialects are analogously contrastive to contour tones in Chinese, except that their domain is an entire phrase, not just a single syllable.[121][122] The register- and nucleus-based systems have been termed Kyoto–Osaka systems (京阪式アクセント, Keihanshiki akusento), although these systems are also found in Shikoku.[117][123]

There are three main registers (the following describes the general trajectories which can be modified by nuclei):[121][124]

  • High-falling: the contour starts high and gradually declines to the end (compare the aforementioned declination in Tokyo contours).
  • High-level: the contour starts high and remains evenly high to the end.
  • Low-rising: the contour starts low and gradually rises to end.

Kyoto accent

[edit]

Kyoto accent involves two registers, high-falling and low-rising.[125] For simplicity, they will be henceforth referred to as "high" and "low"[126] for short, disregarding the gradual fall and rise. The patterns of Kyoto accent can be summarized as follows:[127][128]

The high-registered contour starts high on the first mora and stays high all the way to either the last mora or the nucleus. The low-registered contour starts low on the first mora and stays low all the way to the start of a high tone on either the last mora or the nucleus.[129]

The tone-bearing unit is the mora. Words that are otherwise unimoraic in other dialects are lengthened with /R/. Unlike in Tokyo Japanese, special morae are capable of being accent nuclei in Kyoto Japanese.[130]

Given that Kyoto Japanese has contrastive registers and nuclei, the number of possible patterns for a given noun is hypothetically 2n+2, twice that in Tokyo Japanese. In actuality, there are no known high-registered final-accented nouns, nor low-registered final-accented quadrimoraic or longer nouns, nor low-registered initial-accented nouns (which would involve a rising tone on the first mora, although such nouns used to exist in the Kyoto dialect of the Heian period); therefore, the number of possibilities is more like 2n−1, but only for quadrimoraic or longer nouns.[131]

A low-registered unaccented phrase has a high tone on its last mora, even if that mora is special; however, this high tone is not a nuclear high, and it is mobile and shifts rightward as more particles and auxiliaries are added.[132][133] Low-registered unaccented words also maintain their high tone before another low-registered word, but lose it before a high-registered one.[134]

  • suzume (雀; 'a Eurasian tree sparrow'): /suzume/
    • → suzume kau (雀飼う; 'rears a sparrow'): /suzume | kau/
    • → suzume kawaigaru (雀可愛がる; 'dotes on a sparrow'): /suzume | kawaiɡaɾu/
    • → suzume o (雀を): /suzume o/
      • → suzume o kau (雀を飼う; 'rears a sparrow'): /suzume o | kau/
      • → suzume o kawaigaru (雀を可愛がる; 'dotes on a sparrow'): /suzume o | kawaiɡaɾu/

There are few final-accented nouns, most of which are low-registered and bimoraic. Unlike in Tokyo Japanese where a final accentual fall can only be realized before a particle or auxiliary, it is realized in Kyoto Japanese on the last mora as a falling tone; however, once a particle or auxiliary is added, there is room for the accentual fall to alternatively straddle two morae instead of just one.[135][136] Final-accented words otherwise retain their nuclear falling tone before non-particle words. However, there is an ongoing change in Kyoto in particular and Kansai in general, primarily among Kansaians born since 1960, that is merging final-accented and unaccented words in the low register, although this change is yet to affect all words. Compare the traditionally final-accented saru and the traditionally unaccented hune (innovative contours are listed after rightward arrows):[137]

  • saru (猿; 'a monkey'): /saɾu → saɾu/
    • → saru kau (猿飼う; 'rears a monkey'): /saɾu | kau → saɾu | kau/
    • → saru kawaigaru (猿可愛がる; 'dotes on a monkey'): /saɾu | kawaiɡaɾu → saɾu | kawaiɡaɾu/
    • → saru ga (猿が): /saɾu ɡa ~ saɾu ɡa/
  • hune (船; 'a watercraft'): /hune/
    • → hune kuru (船来る; 'a watercraft comes'): /hune | kuɾu/
    • → hune morau (船貰う; 'receives a watercraft'): /hune | moɾau/
    • → hune ga (船が): /hune ɡa → hune ɡa/

While nouns have many possible contours, verbs are generally unaccented:[138]

  • High-registered: kiru (着る; 'wears') /kiɾu/, sū (吸う; 'inhales') /suR/, kureru (暮れる; '[the sun] sets') /kuɾeɾu/, hashiru (走る; 'runs') /haɕiɾu/, morau (貰う; 'receives') /moɾau/, midareru (乱れる; 'gets chaotic') /midaɾeɾu/, kawaigaru (可愛がる; 'dotes on') /kawaiɡaɾu/, etc.
  • Low-registered: kau (飼う; 'rears') /kau/, kuru (来る; 'comes') /kuɾu/, miru (見る; 'views') /miɾu/, yomu (読む; 'reads') /jomu/, ochiru (落ちる; 'falls') /ocɕiɾu/, aruku (歩く; 'walks') /aɾuku/, kakaeru (抱える; 'holds with the arms') /kakaeɾu/, etc.

Adjectives tend to be high-registered and minimally antepenultimate-accented if their mora counts permit:[139]

  • Bimoraic: koi (濃い; 'is concentrated') /koi/, etc.
    • But: nai (無い; 'is nonexistent') /nai/, etc.
  • Trimoraic or longer: akai (赤い; 'is red') /akai/, tanoshī (楽しい; 'is merry') /tanoɕiR/, omoshiroi (面白い; 'is delightful') /omoɕiɾoi/, etc.

Recent loanwords often have the same location for their nuclei, which is assumed to be the antepenultimate mora, in Kyoto and Tokyo Japanese. However, despite allowing special morae to be nuclei, Kyoto Japanese tends to avoid that in recent loanwords, which means a nucleus can also be the preantepenultimate mora (see also #Accent shifts). Registers, on the other hand, are still unpredictable.[140]

Quadrimoraic clipped compounds tend to be unaccented in both Kyoto and Tokyo Japanese. They tend to be in the low register.[141]

Clipped compound Kyoto contour Tokyo contour
gakushoku (学食; 'a school cafeteria') /ɡakuɕoku/ /ɡakɯɕokɯ/
gakuwari (学割; 'a student discount') /ɡakuwaɾi/ /ɡakɯwaɾi/
rusuden (留守電; 'an answerphone') /ɾusudeN ~ ɾusudeN/ /ɾɯsɯdeN/
aruchū (アル中; 'alcohol poisoning') /aɾucɕuR/ /aɾɯcɕɯR/
sekuhara (セクハラ; 'sexual harassment') /sekuhaɾa/ /sekɯhaɾa/
pansuto (パンスト; 'pantyhose') /paNsuto/ /paNsɯto ~ paNsɯto/
rimokon (リモコン; 'a remote') /ɾimokoN/ /ɾimokoN/

Particles and auxiliaries

[edit]

Particles and auxiliaries can be put into five groups based on their interactions with preceding words (asterisked particles and auxiliaries belong to more than one group):[142]

Dos sharo, a contraction of dosu yaro, contains the dependent dos part and the independent sharo part.

Particles and auxiliaries generally do not change their behaviors when following other particles and auxiliaries, although when a bimoraic or longer low particle is followed by another low particle, the former's last mora may alternatively bear a high tone. The dependent particle wa (は) may be low after another dependent particle among younger speakers. When a dominant particle or auxiliary follows an independent one, the former dominates the latter, but not the noun phrase before it.[143]

N-pattern accent

[edit]

Unlike the Tokyo dialect with its variable n+1-pattern accent, many Japanese and Ryukyuan dialects across southwestern Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands have N-pattern accent (N型アクセント, enukei akusento), whereby N is a fixed number. This means that while the possibilities of contours for a Tokyo noun phrase is, broadly speaking, equal to its mora count n (maximally four) plus one, these dialects only have a fixed number of possibilities regardless of mora counts,[18] not just for noun phrases, but for verb and adjective phrases as well. The N-pattern systems, including the 1-, 2- and 3-pattern systems, are collectively the second most common systems after the n+1-pattern system.[144]

The common characteristic among N-pattern dialects is that the contour of a minor phrase is primarily determined by its very first component. Regardless of the mora count, even when increased by adding more components, the contour of the entire phrase still matches the pattern of only the first component.[145]

2-pattern accent

[edit]

Certain dialects in Kyushu have 2-pattern accent (二型アクセント, nikei akusento). The only two available pattern patterns in these dialects can be termed Pattern A or Class A (A型, ēgata) and Pattern B or Class B (B型, bīgata).[146][147][148] In this section, two dialects are mentioned as representative examples.

Kagoshima accent

[edit]

The two patterns of the Kagoshima dialect are as follows[149][148] (note that /Q/ has the same realizations as in Tokyo Japanese before obstruents, but elsewhere it is [ʔ], or alternatively [t̚] utterance-finally[150]):

Unlike in Tokyo accent, the tone-bearing unit in Kagoshima accent is the syllable, not the mora.[48][151][152] In Pattern A, only the penultimate syllable bears a high tone, while all others bear low tones; thus, there is always an accentual fall from the penultimate to final mora. However, if the phrase is monosyllabic and bimoraic, only the first mora bears the high tone, while the second, here generalized by the capital Greek letter Μ, bears a low tone; and if the phrase is both monosyllabic and unimoraic, its vowel is slightly lengthened to accommodate the accentual fall.[153][154] In Pattern B, there is no accentual fall, and only the final syllable bears the high tone.

Nuclei in Tokyo words are generally fixed before particles and auxiliaries (see Japanese pitch accent rules and Japanese pitch accent rules (verbs and adjectives)). In Kagoshima accent, however, the high tone is mobile before most particles and auxiliaries and shifts rightward as more particles and auxiliaries are added to the same minor phrase to preserve the accent pattern of the word at the beginning:[155][156]

Noun[e] Verb Adjective
Pattern A ame (飴; 'candy'): /a.me/
  • /a.me ɡa, a.me mo, a.me deN/
  • /a.me ma.de → a.me ma.de mo, a.me ma.de deN/
  • /a.me baQ.kai → a.me baQ.kai ɡa/
 nat (泣っ; 'cries'): /naQ/ akka (赤か; 'is red'): /aQ.ka/
  • Gerund: /aQ.ka de/
  • Perfect: /aQ.kaQ.ta/
  • Provisional: /aQ.ka.ɾe.ba/
Pattern B ame (雨; 'rain'): /a.me/
  • /a.me ɡa, a.me mo, a.me deN/
  • /a.me ma.de → a.me ma.de mo, a.me ma.de deN/
  • /a.me baQ.kai → a.me baQ.kai ɡa/
 mot (持っ; 'holds'): /moQ/
  • Perfect: /moQ.ta/
  • Provisional: /mo.te.ba/
  • Imperfect negative: /mo.taN/
  • Imperfect causative: /mo.ta.sɯQ/
  • Imperfect passive-potential: /mo.ta.ɾɯQ/
 shiroka (白か; 'is white'): /ɕi.ɾo.ka/
  • Gerund: /ɕi.ɾo.ka de/
  • Perfect: /ɕi.ɾo.kaQ.ta/
  • Provisional: /ɕi.ɾo.ka.ɾe.ba/

Some particles and auxiliaries can break away into their own minor phrase, although they may not bear any high tone if they are monosyllabic and utterance-final:[157]

Noun + particle/Pattern-B auxiliary[f] Verb + Pattern-A auxiliary[g]
Pattern A ame (飴; 'candy'): /a.me/
  • /a.me | ka, a.me | ja, a.me | na/
  • Imperfect: /a.me | ʑa/
    • Perfect: /a.me | ʑaQ.ta/
 nobot (登っ; 'climbs'): /no.boQ/
  • Imperfect: /no.boQ | cɕoQ/
    • Imperfect negative: /no.boQ | cɕo.ɾaN/
      • Negative gerund: /no.boQ | cɕo.ɾaN de/
Pattern B ame (雨; 'rain'): /a.me/
  • /a.me | ka, a.me | ja, a.me | na/
  • Imperfect: /a.me | ʑa/
    • Perfect: /a.me | ʑaQ.ta/
 oyot (泳っ; 'swims'): /o.joQ/
  • Imperfect: /o.joi | ʑoQ/
    • Imperfect negative: /o.joi | ʑo.ɾaN/
      • Negative gerund: /o.joi | ʑo.ɾaN de/

A major phrase can be constructed from several minor phrases as follows:[158]

  • kodon ga akka hana o mot chot (子供が赤か花を持っちょっ; 'the child is holding a red flower'):
    /ko.doN → ko.doN ɡa/ + /aQ.ka/ + /ha.na → ha.na o/ + /moQ | cɕoQ/ → /ko.doN ɡa | aQ.ka | ha.na o | moQ | cɕoQ/

Kagoshima compound nouns, including proper names, have the same pattern as their first components. In contrast, long Tokyo compound nouns are determined by their second components (see Japanese pitch accent rules § Long compounds):[159][160]

Nagasaki accent

[edit]

Disregarding other regional variants within Nagasaki, the mainstream accent patterns of the Nagasaki dialect can be summarized as follows:[161]

In Pattern A there is an accentual fall from the first two morae to the third mora; bimoraic phrases can only accommodate a fall from the first to second mora, and phrases that are otherwise unimoraic in other dialects are lengthened to make room for this fall. In Pattern B there is an accentual rise from the penultimate to last mora, which is comparatively weaker than the similar rise in Kagoshima accent; and some phrases may also be lengthened to accommodate it.[161]

The tone-bearing unit in Nagasaki accent is generally the mora. In certain cases where Pattern B involves /N, Q, R, i, ɯ/ at the end of the minor phrase, it appears that it is the syllable that bears the high tone, or there is no high tone at all:[162]

  • /N/: futon (布団) /ɸɯtoN ~ ɸɯtoN/, atama n (頭ん; 'the head's') /atama N ~ atama N/, etc.
  • /Q/: misut (見すっ; 'shows') /misɯQ ~ misɯQ/, derarut (出らるっ; 'can exit') /deɾaɾɯQ ~ deɾaɾɯQ/, etc.
  • /R/: yomō (読もう; 'let's read') /jomoR ~ jomoR/, tanomō (頼もう; 'let's request') /tanomoR ~ tanomoR/, etc.
  • /i/: shikai (司会; 'presiding') /ɕikai ~ ɕikai/, etc.
  • /ɯ/: machigau (間違う; 'is mistaken') /macɕiɡaɯ ~ macɕiɡaɯ/, etc.

Short Nagasaki compounds (see Japanese pitch accent rules § Modifier–head compound nouns) tend to preserve the accent pattern of the first component just like in Kagoshima accent, but long compounds may be Pattern B regardless:[163]

Pattern-A compound Pattern-B compound
Pattern-A 1st component
  • hana (鼻; 'a nose'): /hana/
    • hanamizu (鼻水; 'nasal mucus'): /hanamizɯ/
  • michi (道; 'a road'): /micɕi/
    • michikusa (道草; 'roadside grass'): /micɕikɯsa/
  • inaka (田舎; 'the countryside'): /inaka/
    • inakamono (田舎者; 'a bumpkin'): /inakamono/
  • watari (渡り; 'passage'): /wataɾi/
    • watarirōka (渡り廊下; 'a breezeway'): /wataɾiɾoRka/
Pattern-B 1st component
  • iro (色; 'a color'): /iɾo/
    • irogami (色紙; 'colored paper'): /iɾoɡami/
  • oya (親; 'a parent'): /oja/
    • oyayubi (親指; 'a thumb'): /ojajɯbi/

Some particles and auxiliaries preserve the accent pattern of the word at the beginning of the same minor phrase. The Pattern-A high tone may have more room to be fully realized as the mora count reaches three, while the Pattern-B one shifts rightward:[164]

Noun Verb[h]
Pattern A kaze (風; 'wind'): /kaze/
  • /kaze no, kaze wa/
  • /kaze kaɾa, kaze deN/
 iku (行く; 'goes'): /ikɯ/
  • Negative imperative: /ikɯ na/
  • Imperfect semblative: /ikɯ ɾaɕika/
  • Imperfect desirative: /ikitaka/
  • Perfect: /iQta/
  • Representative: /iQtai/
  • Imperfect negative: /ikaN/
  • Imperfect causative: /ikasɯɾɯ/
Pattern B umi (海; 'a sea'): /ɯmi/
  • /ɯmi no, ɯmi wa/
  • /ɯmi kaɾa, ɯmi deN/
 yomu (読む; 'reads'): /jomɯ/
  • Negative imperative: /jomɯ na/
  • Imperfect semblative: /jomɯ ɾaɕika/
  • Imperfect desirative: /jomitaka/
  • Perfect: /joNda/
  • Representative: /joNdai/
  • Imperfect negative: /jomaN/
  • Imperfect causative: /jomasɯɾɯ/

Other particles and auxiliaries form their own minor phrase, and some may have irregular contours:[165]

Noun[i] Verb[j] Adjective
Pattern A hima (暇; 'spare time'): /hima/
  • /hima | ʑaQta/
 iku (行く; 'goes'): /ikɯ/
  • /ikɯ | zo/
  • /ikɯ | ʑaɾo/
  • /ikɯ | dake/
  • /ikɯ | baQkai/
 hidoka (酷か; 'is cruel'): /hidoka/
  • /hidoka | ɕi/
Pattern B yume (夢; 'a dream'): /jɯme/
  • /jɯme | ʑaQta/
 yomu (読む; 'reads'): /jomɯ/
  • /jomɯ | zo/
  • /jomɯ | ʑaɾo/
  • /jomɯ | dake/
  • /jomɯ | baQkai/
 samuka (寒か; 'is cold'): /samɯka/
  • /samɯka | ɕi/

Yoru (progressive) and toru (perfect with a persistent result), the Nagasaki equivalents of ‑te oru/‑te iru, are in the same minor phrase as the beginning verb in the affirmative, or in their own minor phrase in the negative:[166]

Pattern A iku (行く; 'goes'): /ikɯ/
  • Imperfect: /iki joɾɯ/
    • Perfect: /iki joQta/
    • Imperfect negative: /iki | joɾaN ~ iki | joɾaN/
Pattern B yomu (読む; 'reads'): /jomɯ/
  • Imperfect: /jomi joɾɯ/
    • Perfect: /jomi joQta/
    • Imperfect negative: /jomi | joɾaN ~ jomi | joɾaN/

3-pattern accent

[edit]

Most dialects of the Oki Islands have 3-pattern accent (三型アクセント, sankei akusento), with the exception of the 2-pattern Chibu dialect.[167]

Goka accent

[edit]

The accent system of Goka, a former village on the Oki Islands, can be summarized as follows:[168]

The Pattern-A contour involves two high tones, the first of which is on the first mora, while the second is on the second mora in a bimoraic phrase, the third mora in a tri- or quadrimoraic phrase, and the fourth mora in a quinquemoraic or longer phrase. In a trimoraic or longer phrase, the Pattern-B contour has its high tone on the second mora, and the Pattern-C contour has its on the first mora; in a bimoraic phrase, both patterns have its high tone on the first mora, although Pattern C has a mid tone on the second mora (here marked with a lower, dashed line) while Pattern B has a low tone; and in a unimoraic phrase, both Pattern B and C simply have a high tone on the entire mora.

As shown above, most particles belong to the same minor phrase as the nouns before them. There are two exceptional particles:[169]

Pattern A kuruma (車; 'a car'): /kɯɾɯma/
  • /kɯɾɯma ni | dake, kɯɾɯma ni | bakaɾi/
Pattern B momiji (紅葉; 'maple'): /momiʑi/
  • /momiʑi ni | dake, momiʑi ni | bakaɾi/
Pattern C nezumi (鼠; 'a murid'): /nezɯmi/
  • /nezɯmi ni | dake, nezɯmi ni | bakaɾi/

Compounds whose first components are Patterns A and B tend to be Pattern A. Those whose first components are Pattern C remain Pattern C:[170]

1-pattern accent

[edit]

Examples of 1-pattern accent (一型アクセント, ikkei akusento) include the Miyakonojō, Kobayashi (Miyazaki Prefecture) and Shibushi (Kagoshima Prefecture) dialects among others.[171]

Miyakonojō accent

[edit]

All phrases in the Miyakonojō dialect contain an accentual rise from the penultimate to last syllable. There is no such rise only in monosyllabic phrases.[172]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ These notations are standard in all the editions of the Shin Meikai Nihongo Akusento Jiten (新明解日本語アクセント辞典) as well as the NHK Nihongo Hatsuon Akusento Jiten (NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典).
  2. ↑ The physical dictionary.
  3. ↑ The mobile application.
  4. ↑ Alternatively initial-accented and completely homophonous with ima (今; 'now').
  5. ↑ Den and bakkai are respectively the Kagoshima equivalents of the Tokyo de mo and bakari.
  6. ↑ Ka, ya and na are all Kagoshima interrogative equivalents of Tokyo ka, and ja is the copular equivalent of da.
  7. ↑ ‑chot/‑jot are the reduced forms of ‑te oru/‑de oru, which are the western equivalents of ‑te iru/‑de iru.
  8. ↑ Rashika is the Nagasaki semblative equivalent of the Tokyo rashī, ‑taka is the desirative equivalent of ‑tai, and ‑tai/‑dai are the representative equivalents of ‑tari/‑dari.
  9. ↑ Jatta/yatta are the Nagasaki perfect copular equivalents of the Tokyo datta.
  10. ↑ Jaro/yaro are the Nagasaki tentative copular equivalents of the Tokyo daro(o), and bakkai is the equivalent of bakari.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Vance (1987), p. 1.
  2. 1 2 Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), p. 17.
  3. ↑ 強弱アクセント. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  4. ↑ 強さアクセント. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  5. ↑ 高低アクセント. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  6. ↑ 高さアクセント. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  7. ↑ Matsumori & Nitta (2026), pp. 15–16.
  8. ↑ Vance (2008), p. 143.
  9. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 147, 151.
  10. ↑ Matsumori & Nitta (2026), pp. 10–13.
  11. ↑ Vance (2008), p. 144.
  12. ↑ Labrune (2012), pp. 174, 179.
  13. ↑ Kibe (2025), pp. 156–157.
  14. ↑ Matsumori (2026), p. 27.
  15. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 23–24.
  16. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. (10)–(11).
  17. ↑ Kibe (2026), pp. 62–78.
  18. 1 2 Matsumori (2026), pp. 80–92.
  19. ↑ Labrune (2012), p. 179.
  20. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 18–19.
  21. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 32, 125–126.
  22. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 125–127.
  23. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 144–145.
  24. ↑ Labrune (2012), p. 182.
  25. ↑ Vance (1995), pp. 492, 495.
  26. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 150–153.
  27. ↑ Vance (2008), p. 151.
  28. ↑ Poser (1984), p. 2.
  29. ↑ Pierrehumbert & Beckman (1988), pp. 6–7.
  30. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 107, 196, 337, 715, 873, 917.
  31. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025), pp. 165, 308, 523, 1079, 1313, 1375.
  32. 1 2 Haraguchi (2002), p. 7.
  33. 1 2 Labrune (2012), pp. 154–155.
  34. ↑ Labrune (2012), p. 185.
  35. 1 2 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025), pp. [7]–[10].
  36. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 48–49.
  37. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 56–59.
  38. ↑ Hirako, Tatsuya (2024). "Historical Study on the Accentual Systems of Noto-Jima Dialects: Focusing on Accentual Changes after "Initial Raising"" 石川県能登島諸方言のアクセントに関する史的考察：語頭隆起後のアクセント変化を中心に. Phonological Studies 音韻研究 (in Japanese). 27. The Phonological Society of Japan: 103–104. doi:10.60441/phonstud.27.0_103. ISSN 2759-3959.
  39. ↑ Vance (1995), pp. 492–498.
  40. ↑ Vance (2008), p. 153.
  41. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (1998), pp. 200, 732.
  42. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 196, 726.
  43. ↑ Vance (2008), p. 147.
  44. 1 2 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025), pp. [11]–[12].
  45. ↑ Vance (2008), p. 148.
  46. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), p. (9).
  47. ↑ Vance (2008), p. 145.
  48. 1 2 Sakaguchi (2001), p. 34.
  49. ↑ Pierrehumbert & Beckman (1988), p. 263.
  50. 1 2 3 4 Vance (2008), p. 182.
  51. 1 2 Labrune (2012), p. 175.
  52. ↑ Matsumori (2026), p. 54.
  53. ↑ Vance (2008), p. 150.
  54. 1 2 3 Martin (2004), p. 18.
  55. ↑ Pierrehumbert & Beckman (1988), p. 11.
  56. 1 2 Haraguchi (1975), p. 47.
  57. ↑ Poser (1984), pp. 265.
  58. ↑ Pierrehumbert & Beckman (1988), pp. 57–58.
  59. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 180–181.
  60. ↑ Akinaga (1998), p. 214.
  61. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 180–187.
  62. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 53, 55.
  63. ↑ Kōri (2024), pp. 21–29.
  64. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 49–51.
  65. <span_lang="ja">解説</span></span>[[Category:Articles_containing_Japanese-language_text]]_66-0' rel="mw:referencedBy" id="mwIOA">↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 21–22, 解説.
  66. ↑ Poser (1984), p. 147.
  67. ↑ Kubozono (2002), p. 32.
  68. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 58, 100, 106, 131.
  69. ↑ Labrune (2012), pp. 132, 144.
  70. ↑ Kibe (2026), p. 97.
  71. ↑ Matsumori (2026), p. 130.
  72. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 133–138.
  73. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 66–67, 134.
  74. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 87, 890, 972.
  75. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025), pp. 133, 1338, 1453.
  76. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 117–118.
  77. ↑ Vance (1987), pp. 50, 65.
  78. ↑ Kibe (2026), pp. 63–64.
  79. ↑ Labrune (2012), p. 162.
  80. ↑ Labrune (2012), p. 188.
  81. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 271, (8).
  82. 1 2 3 Akinaga (1998), pp. 220–221.
  83. ↑ Vance (2008), pp. 211–212, 136.
  84. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 635, (7).
  85. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025), p. 962.
  86. ↑ Kubozono (2002), p. 54.
  87. ↑ Kubozono (2023), p. 125.
  88. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025), pp. 465, 836, [15].
  89. ↑ Kubozono (2023), pp. 38–39, 125.
  90. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 403, (8).
  91. ↑ Hasegawa (1999), p. 526.
  92. 1 2 Vance (2008), p. 212.
  93. ↑ Akinaga (1998), p. 220.
  94. 1 2 Vance (2008), pp. 213–214.
  95. ↑ Labrune (2012), pp. 37, 188–189.
  96. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 13, 45, 167, 253, 362, 801, 982, (85).
  97. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025), pp. 19, 70, 558.
  98. ↑ Akinaga (1998), pp. 219–220.
  99. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 129–130.
  100. ↑ Labrune (2012), p. 29.
  101. ↑ Vance (2008), p. 213.
  102. 1 2 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (1998), p. 203.
  103. 1 2 Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), p. 171.
  104. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025), p. 266.
  105. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025).
  106. ↑ Trask (1996), pp. 278, 356.
  107. ↑ Ladefoged & Johnson (2015), pp. 23, 265.
  108. ↑ Kitahara (1999), p. 4.
  109. ↑ Maekawa (1990), p. 518.
  110. ↑ Maekawa (1990), pp. 519–520.
  111. ↑ Kitahara (1999), pp. 12–16.
  112. ↑ Kitahara (1999), pp. 4–5, 10.
  113. ↑ Labrune (2012), pp. 186–188.
  114. ↑ Kindaichi & Akinaga (2025), pp. 59, 147, 196, 337, 677, 715, 727.
  115. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute (2025), pp. 90, 228, 308, 524, 1022, 1079, 1095, [161].
  116. ↑ Tamaoka, Katsuo; Saitō, Nobuhiro; Kiyama, Sachiko; Timmer, Kalinka; Verdonschot, Rinus G. (2014). "Is pitch accent necessary for comprehension by native Japanese speakers? – An ERP investigation". Journal of Neurolinguistics. 27 (1): 31–40. doi:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2013.08.001. S2CID 13831878.
  117. 1 2 Shibatani (1990), pp. 210–213.
  118. ↑ 東京式アクセント. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  119. ↑ Kibe (2025), pp. 156–168.
  120. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 26–29.
  121. 1 2 Kibe (2025), pp. 169–170.
  122. ↑ Nakai (2026), p. 106.
  123. ↑ 京阪式アクセント. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  124. ↑ Nakai (2026), pp. 114–115, 120–121.
  125. ↑ Kibe (2025), p. 169.
  126. ↑ Labrune (2012), p. 253.
  127. ↑ Nakai (2025), p. 739.
  128. ↑ Nakai (2026), p. 109.
  129. ↑ Nakai (2026), pp. 114–115.
  130. ↑ Kibe (2026), pp. 99–100.
  131. ↑ Nakai (2026), pp. 109–110.
  132. ↑ Nakai (2025), pp. 739, 769.
  133. ↑ Nakai (2026), pp. 109–111.
  134. ↑ Nakai (2026), pp. 110–111.
  135. ↑ Nakai (2025), pp. 768–769.
  136. ↑ Nakai (2026), pp. 111–112.
  137. ↑ Nakai (2026), pp. 112–113.
  138. ↑ Nakai (2026), p. 113.
  139. ↑ Nakai (2026), p. 114.
  140. ↑ Matsumori (2026), p. 133.
  141. ↑ Matsumori (2026), p. 137.
  142. ↑ Nakai (2025), pp. 768–775.
  143. ↑ Nakai (2025), pp. 775–777.
  144. ↑ Matsumori (2026), p. 83.
  145. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 83–86.
  146. ↑ Kibe (2012), p. 80.
  147. ↑ Kibe (2025), p. 910.
  148. 1 2 Kibe (2026), pp. 62–67.
  149. ↑ Kibe (2025), pp. 910, 931–932.
  150. ↑ Kibe (2025), pp. 906–907.
  151. ↑ Kibe (2025), pp. 910, 932.
  152. ↑ Kibe (2026), p. 71.
  153. ↑ Kibe (2025), pp. 910, 931.
  154. ↑ Kibe (2026), p. 63.
  155. ↑ Kibe (2025), pp. 932–933.
  156. ↑ Kibe (2026), pp. 65–66, 71.
  157. ↑ Kibe (2026), pp. 66–67.
  158. ↑ Kibe (2026), pp. 68–69.
  159. ↑ Kibe (2025), pp. 933–934.
  160. ↑ Kibe (2026), pp. 69–71.
  161. 1 2 Sakaguchi (2001), p. 33.
  162. ↑ Sakaguchi (2001), pp. 34–35.
  163. ↑ Sakaguchi (2001), pp. 33–34.
  164. ↑ Sakaguchi (2001), pp. 37–40.
  165. ↑ Sakaguchi (2001), pp. 40–41.
  166. ↑ Sakaguchi (2001), p. 41.
  167. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 82–83.
  168. ↑ Matsumori (2026), pp. 80–86.
  169. ↑ Matsumori (2026), p. 87.
  170. ↑ Kibe (2025), p. 175.
  171. ↑ Kibe (2025), pp. 82–83.
  172. ↑ Kibe (2025), p. 176.

Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_pitch_accent&oldid=1377633613"