Pronunciation III: Pitch Accent & Devoicing
日本語の音韻体系③ アクセント・母音の無声化
In our third lesson on Japanese pronunciation, we will explore two essential features: pitch accent and vowel devoicing.
Standard Japanese Pitch Accent
標準語のアクセント
In Japanese, words are not stressed by emphasizing one syllable over another. Instead, each word may have one accented mora, or none at all. An accented mora is pronounced with a high pitch, followed by a pitch drop on the next mora. This drop in pitch is called a downstep.
The Accent Types
アクセントの型
The Standard Japanese pitch-accent system has four main patterns:
- Accent on the first mora: The pitch starts high on the first mora, then it drops on the next mora—leveling out.
- Accent in the middle: The pitch rises and reaches its highest point on the accented mora, then it drops immediately after.
- Accent on the last mora: The first mora is low, with the remaining morae pronounced at a high pitch. The pitch drops only when something is attached to the word, like a particle.
- No accented mora: Pitch rises and is maintained high throughout the word.
For words with patterns 2–4, the pitch begins with an initial rise. How these patterns manifest can best be visualized when considering the number of morae in a phrase.
Chart Notes: Low-pitched morae are marked with a grave accent (`); high-pitched morae are marked with an acute accent (´). Accented morae are in bold. Downsteps are marked by ↓.
| Patterns | 1 Mora | 2 Morae | 3 Morae | 4 Morae | Contour |
| ①Accent on First Mora (Atamadakagata 頭高型) | H(L) [kú↓] (ward) | HL [á↓mè] (rain) | HLL [dé↓ǹkì ] (electricity) | HLLL [há↓mìǹgù] (humming) | ＼＿ |
| ②Accent in Middle1 (Nakadakagata 中高型) | ∅ | ∅ | LHL(L) [kùzú↓sù] (to demolish) | LHHL(L) /LHLL(L) [shìó↓mìzù] (salt water) | ／(￣)＼ |
| ③Accent on Last Mora (Odakagata 尾高型) | ∅ | LH(L) [shìká ↓] (deer) | LHH(L) [hàdómé ↓] (restraint) | LHHH(L) [imóótó↓] (little sister) | ／￣（＼） |
| ④No Accent (Heibangata 平板型) | L(H) [kà] (mosquito) | LH(H) [àmé ] (candy) | LHH(H) [àbúrá] (oil) | LHHH(H) [ònsétsú] (syllable) | ／￣（￣） |
Distinguishing Homophones w/ Pitch
アクセントの違う同音異義語
These four pitch patterns play a role in distinguishing homophones—words that sound the same but have different meanings. The chart below illustrates groups of similar-sounding words that are differentiated by their pitch accent.
Chart Notes:
1. ↓ indicates that pitch will drop on the first mora of an affix.
2. If nothing follows, words of Pattern 3 and Pattern 4 will sound identical.
| ①Accent on First Mora | ②Accent In Middle | ③Accent On Last Mora | ④No Accent |
| [á↓kà] (red) | [àká↓] (dirt/filth) | ||
| [á↓kì] (fall/autumn) | [àkí↓] (weariness) | [àkí] (vacancy) | |
| [á↓sà] (morning) | [àsá↓] (hemp) | ||
| [í↓chì] (location/market) | [ìchí↓] (one) | ||
| [í↓mà] (now) | [ìmá↓] (living room) | ||
| [ú↓mì] (ocean) | [ùmí↓] (pus) | ||
| [é↓kì] (train station/liquid) | [èkí] (gain) | ||
| [ká↓kì] (oyster, etc.2) | [kàkí↓] (hedge) | [kàkí] (persimmon) | |
| [kí↓] (tree/yellow) | [kì] (spirit/qi) | ||
| [sá↓kè] (salmon) | [sàké↓] (alcohol) | ||
| [há↓shì] (chopsticks) | [hàshí↓] (bridge) | [hàshí] (edge/start) | |
| [há↓nà] edge | [hàná↓] (flower) | [hàná] (nose/snivel) | |
| [ní↓hòǹ ] (two cylindrical things) | [nìhó↓ǹ ] (Japan) |
Different Words, Same Pitch
アクセント区別の付かない同音語
While pitch accent helps distinguish some homophones, it does not guarantee that all words with the same sounds have unique pitch patterns. In fact, it is quite common for homophones, especially “extreme homophones,” to share the same pitch pattern. Even among two- or three-mora word pairs, identical pitch patterns are commonplace.
| Pitch Accent Pattern | |||
| [áì] (love) | [áì] (indigo) | ① | |
| [kàrá]↓ (shell) | [kàrá] ↓ (empty) | ③ | |
| [sòkó] (there) | [sòkó] (bottom) | ④ | |
| [tákò] (kite) | [tákò] (octopus) | [tákò] (callus) | ① |
Vowel Devoicing
母音の無声化
When a vowel is devoiced, it loses the vibration in the vocal cords typically associated with vowel sounds.
The vowels /i/ and /u/ are frequently devoiced when they occur between or after the consonants /k/, /s/, /t/, and /p/. This is especially the case in low-pitched morae and in fast speech. When a vowel is devoiced, the mouth is still articulated to pronounce the vowel, but it is not truly enunciated. Devoicing is especially common with the morae /shi/, /chi/, /hi/, /su/, /tsu/, or /fu/.
Devoicing does not occur in single-mora words and it is more prevalent in male speech.
| Chi̥kara (power) | Ku̥sa (grass) | Su̥ki (to like) | Tsu̥ki (moon) |
| Ki̥ku (chrysanthemum) | Atsu̥ (pressure) | Su̥kii (skiing) | Ki̥kichigai (mishearing) |
Notation Note: ◌̥ indicates a devoiced vowel in the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).
- For long words that follow Pattern 2, the pitch drop does not always fall on the second to last mora. ↩︎
- [kákì] is an extreme homophone. Meaning, it has even more definitions not listed in the chart that exist for them—”yellow,” “period,” “season,” etc. Such homophones will always have separate kanji spellings. ↩︎