So, from what I’ve learned about pitch accent, out of all four patterns, any particle is either the same (or basically the same, with perhaps a small drop) pitch as the mora before it, OR it’s a noticeable drop. However, I’m certain that when listening to actual spoken Japanese, there are occasions when speakers put a higher pitch on the particle. What is this?
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Generally, yes, though there is one consistent exception: words with only one syllable (mora). In Tokyo-ben, the particle following a single-mora word will always have a different pitch-accent; if the word is high, the particle goes low, and if the word is low, the particle goes high.
This is useful for two reasons: first, it helps clarify the delineation between the word and particle, and second, it helps distinguish between homophones. For instance:
– し ^が きれい indicates that the word し here is 詩 (poetry): “poetry is beautiful.”
– ^し が きれい has a very different meaning—the し here is 死, making the sentence “death is beautiful.”
Of course, these are generally clear from context, just as if you’re having a conversation with your friend about a moral quandary and they say “It’s a **com**plex situation.” The emphasis on the first syllable does technically make the word a noun meaning “group of buildings”, but you probably won’t assume that they’re saying the situation somehow relates to architecture.
I find studying pitch accent really weird because it’s not part of Japanese language study for most Japanese people.
And when something is not part of the language study for the natives themselves, then obviously there isn’t going to be perfect conformity among the speakers. I don’t think you’ll find a pitch accent rule for every variation you might hear.
And considering there are so many different pitch accents across Japan, I find it kinda messed up that people even put so much effort into trying to learn it.
https://imgur.com/P76QpWF
Seems like one is infinitely better off just worrying about sounding natural once you’ve settled into a specific region. Unless you want to aim for something like a broadcasting job at a specific area.
Particles don’t have a pitch accent, **only words have a pitch accent.** Sometimes, the accent *will be on the last mora of a word, causing the particle to be pronounced at a lower pitch.*(Based on what I remember from “An Introduction to Japanese Linguistics” by Natsuko Tsujimura)