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Pitch accent

Japanese uses pitch accent, where every mora can either be pronounced with a high or low pitch. Not all dictionaries will indicate this, but pitch accent is certainly important, because it can make the difference between different words.

For example, using bold for high pitches:

ima (今) - "now"
ima (居間) - "living room"

When dictionaries give pitch accent, they'll usually indicate it with a number. The number tells you the mora where the last high pitch is. To figure out the pitch pattern, put a low onto the first mora (unless the last high pitch is on that mora), put high pitches onto all the mora that follows, until you hit the last high pitch. After that, put low pitches.

Even more helpful dictionaries will do all of this work for you, by telling you exactly where all the pitches rise or fall.

So, to give some examples.

• zero - low HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH HIGH ...

kodomo (子供) - "child"
watashi (私) - "I"
tomodachi (友達) - "friend"
zasshi (雑誌) - "magazine"
akai (赤い) - "red"
gakkou (学校) - "school"

• one - HIGH low low low low low ...

jisho (辞書) - "dictionary"
chuugoku (中国) - "China"
nani (何) - "what"
hashi (箸) - "chopsticks"

• two - low HIGH low low low low ...

kokoro (心) - "heart"
jitensha (自転車) - "bicycle"
purezento (プレゼント) - "present"

• three - low HIGH HIGH low low low ...

sensei (先生) - "teacher"
ookii (大きい) - "big"
takusan (たくさん) - "many"

• four - low HIGH HIGH HIGH low low ...

atarashii (新しい) - "new"
utsukushii (美しい) - "beautiful"
otouto (弟) - "little brother"
panfuretto (パンフレット) - "pamphlet"


and so on.

See how otouto (4) and tomodachi (0) look as if they have the same pitch pattern even though they don't? The difference is clear if you add a grammatical pattern like -wa after: then we get otoutowa and tomodachiwa.

It should however be noted that not every approach to learning Japanese emphasizes learning pitch in this way; in Japanese, pitch is a characteristic of regional accents, so a Kanto speaker may be using the opposite pitches to a Kansai speaker. Where pitch is taught, it is certainly the pitch of the 'standard' Tokyo accent, universally understood but nevertheless a particular accent. The alternative method of learning is simply imitating the native speakers you converse with. It's also worth noting that pitchless Japanese is easily understood by native speakers, whereas incorrect pitch may at best sound strange or unnatural.