Listen for Japanese pitch-accent contrasts

The idea

In Tokyo Japanese, H and L mark relative high and low pitch on each mora, not loudness. 箸が and 雨が are H・L・L: the pitch drops after the first mora. 橋が is L・H・L, dropping after the second; 飴が is L・H・H, with no drop in this phrase. The particle reveals whether the pitch falls after the word.

Examples

• 橋はしが川かわの上うえにあります。The bridge is over the river.
• 箸はしが机つくえの上うえにあります。The chopsticks are on the desk.
• 雨あめが朝あさから降ふっています。It has been raining since morning.
• 飴あめが袋ふくろに入はいっています。There is candy in the bag.
• 橋はしを渡わたって駅えきへ行いきます。I cross the bridge and go to the station.
• 箸はしを使つかって魚さかなを食たべます。I eat fish with chopsticks.

Watch out

Pitch varies by region, speaker and sentence intonation. A synthetic voice may not reproduce the pattern; context also helps identify the word.

Try it yourself

1. 「箸はしが」と「橋はしが」。H・L・Lはどちらですか。（箸はし／橋はし）

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   箸

   箸: は is high and the pitch falls on し, giving H・L・L with が.

2. 「雨あめが」と「飴あめが」。L・H・Hはどちらですか。（雨あめ／飴あめ）

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   飴

   飴: the pitch rises on め and remains high on が, giving L・H・H.

3. 「橋はしが」の高たかい拍はくはどれですか。（は／し）

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   し

   し: 橋が rises from は to し and falls on が.

4. 「雨あめが」は「あ」の後あとに下さがりますか。（はい／いいえ）

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   はい

   はい: 雨が is H・L・L, so it falls immediately after あ.

Use it today

Listen to a reliable Tokyo-accent recording or speaker saying each word with が. Mark the drop, check the table, then repeat and use the sentences for context. The written exercises below practise interpreting the patterns.