## Types 1. 平板式 1. This is the only pattern that causes particles to be high too 2. 起伏式 1. 頭高型 1. The first mora is high, and the rest of the word is low 2. All 頭高 words have at least two morae. 2. 中高型 1. All 中高 words have at least three morae. 3. 尾高型 1. Always starts low on the first mora, unless it only has one mora 2. It stays high after that ## Common Words Differentiated by Pitch The particle は will be used | Word in Kana | 平板式 | 頭高型 | 中高型 | 尾高型 | | ------------ | ----------- | ----------- | --- | ------------ | | ひ | 日は：ひ ↗ は | | | 火は：ひ ↘ は | | き | 気は：き ↗ は | | | 木は：き ↘ は | | いち | | 位置は：い ↘ ちは | | 一は：い ↗ ち ↘ は | | かみ | | 神は：か ↘ みは | | 紙は：か ↗ み ↘ は | | ようい | 容易は：よ ↗ ういは | 用意は：よ ↘ ういは | | | ## Verbs #### Polite Forms When ます attaches to any verb, it overrides the verb's original pitch accent. The original accent of the verb does not matter. Always start low on the first mora, rise, then drop after ま. Exception, any negative forms using ません: drop after せ 1. 食べる：た ↗ べま ↘ す 2. 行く：い ↗ きませ ↘ んでした #### Heiban Verbs When a 平板 verb is inflected, most inflections retain the 平板 pattern Forms that retain the pattern: 1. Plain 2. Plain negative 3. Past 4. Te 5. Potential 6. Passive 7. Causative Example: 言わない = い ↗ わない Other forms switch to 中高 1. Past Negative: 言わなかった = い ↗ わな ↘ かった 2. Conditional: 言えば = い ↗ え ↘ ば 3. Volitional: 言おう = い ↗ お ↘ う #### Non-Heiban Verbs Verbs that are not 平板 are either 頭高 or 中高. There are no 尾高 verbs. Almost all of the 頭高 verbs have only two moras. Most non-negative inflections of 頭高 verbs are also 頭高 Inflections of 頭高 verbs 1. 見る：み ↘ る 2. 見れば：み ↘ れば 中高 verbs are a little more difficult to predict, but some generalizations do exist. The downstep in the plain form always occurs before the final mora: 1. 食べる：た ↗ べ ↘ る The following 中高 verb forms have their downstep on the third to last mora: 1. Past 2. Te 3. Conditional Example: 1. 食べれば：た ↗ べ ↘ れば For negative forms of both 頭高 and 中高 verbs, the downstep comes on the mora before the な. Example: 1. 見なかった：み ↘ なかった The remaining common forms of both 頭高 and 中高 verbs are 中高 1. Potential 2. Passive 3. Causative Example: 1. 見られる：み ↗ られ ↘ る ## Adjectives The vast majority of い adjectives are 中高 with the downstep occurring before the い. In most cases, any conjugated form shifts the downstep one mora back. Negative forms of い adjectives are one of the **rare exceptions** to the 'once you go low stay low' rule. Negative forms function as if they are a combination of the pitch pattern of the く form of the adjective, plus a suitably conjugated form of the 頭高 word ない (in other words, the な is high). ##### Plain 1. 暑い：あ ↗ つ ↘ い ##### Past 1. 暑かった：あ ↘ つかった ##### Negative 1. 暑くない：あ ↘ つく ↗ な ↘ い な adjectives can be 頭高 or 中高 (most two- and three-mora words) or 平板 (most four-mora words consisting of kanji only). Negative forms of な adjectives are also exceptions to the 'once you go low stay low' rule. Negative forms function as if they are a combination of the dictionary form of the adjective, plus では with low pitch, plus a suitably conjugated form of the 頭高 word ない. ##### Plain 1. 静かな：し ↘ ずかな ##### Negative 1. 静かではない：し ↘ ずかでは ↗ な ↘ い ## Other Parts of Speech Many common sentence-ending words such as だ, です, でしょう, だろう, みたい, etc., follow a simple pattern: if the last mora of the previous word is low, they start low and stay low; if the last mora of the previous word is high, they start high and go low after the first mora. ## Vowel Devoicing A final [i] or [ɯ] is often devoiced to [i̥] or [ɯ̥] after a downstep and an unvoiced consonant. ## Number Notation Most Japanese dictionaries use the same notation for defining pitch: a number indicates the mora after which a downstep occurs, or 0 if there is no downstep. In other words, all 平板 words are represented by a 0, 頭高 by a 1, and 尾高 by a number equal to the number of moras in the word. 中高 would be any number greater than 1 and less than the number of moras in the word.