What is pitch accent? Like anything I see is basically saying this is high pit he’d and then it gets low and I don’t get it. Like, it sounds weird whenever I attempt to pronounce it that way bc it sounds so unnatural. Do you have an advice/tips on this?

jibunstudies:

Pitch accent helps Japanese people distinguish words (even though chopsticks, bridge, and edge are all はし, their pitch allows Japanese people to distinguish between them outside of context).

It works similarly to the way English speakers have stresses that allow us to differentiate words – white house and White House are not said the same in a sentence such as “The White House is a white house.” The difference is subtle, but to a native speaker it makes or breaks how natural a sentence sounds.

So let’s continue with the はし example.

• はし（端）edge
• はし（橋）bridge
• はし（箸）chopsticks

In this example, 端 carries no stress and can thus be described as accent-less. However, 橋 will have a slight uptake on the end when you say し, and in contrast 箸 will start higher and slip down when you say し.

This is also the case with sushi. American English pronounces sushi with the stress on the “su,” like sushi. It’s kind of a hard punch in the beginning and then we fade. However, in Japanese, the pitch is on the “shi” portion, so it’s actually more like すし, and it’s not a stress but a pitch. 

The difference is subtle, and it’s not a tone in your voice. There is a reason that Japanese often sounds a bit like a wave, or “lyrical,” and it’s because their language is constantly moving up and down in pitch while they speak. Your voice doesn’t get louder, nor does your voice get “higher” or “lower,” but instead it simply pitches slightly upward or slightly downward or not at all.

My #1 tip to master this is to listen to Japanese spoken naturally and try to mimic it. When you’re having a conversation with someone in real time, you’re not going to be thinking “Am I pitching my words right?!” You should just be speaking, and if you’ve already practiced then you won’t have a problem.

I’d also recommend taking a look at Dogen’s YouTube series on Japanese pitch accent. He does a great job explaining how pitch accent works in Japanese and why it’s important to learn it! Japanese isn’t a flat language just because it doesn’t have stress or tone; it’s moving up and down too!

Please pay attention to Japanese pitch accent and don’t ignore it even though most textbooks don’t teach it or even talk about it! It’s hugely important to making your Japanese sound more natural, and it’ll help get rid of the accent you have on Japanese from your native tongue.