Pitch Accent
A few words are pronounced different pitch accent between Yamanote and Shitamachi. The following words are typical examples.
- Bandō (another name of Kantō region): Accent on ba in Yamanote, Accentless in Shitamachi.
- saka ("slope"): Accent on ka in Yamanote, Accent on sa in Shitamachi.
- tsugi ("next"): Accent on gi in Yamanote, Accent on tsu in Shitamachi.
- sushi: Accent on shi in Yamanote, Accent on su in Shitamachi.
- suna ("sand"): Accentless in Yamanote, Accent on na in Shitamachi.
- asahi ("morning sun"): Accent on a in Yamanote, Accent on sa in Shitamachi.
- aniki ("big brother"): Accent on a in Yamanote, Accent on ni in Shitamachi.
- itsumo ("always"): Accent on i in Yamanote, Accent on tsu in Shitamachi.
- hanashi ("talk"): Accentless in Yamanote, Accent on na mora in Shitamachi.
- tamago ("egg"): Accent on ma in Yamanote, Accentless in Shitamachi.
- accentless word -sama (a honorific): Accent on sa in Yamanote, Accentless in Shitamachi.
Read more about this topic: Tokyo Dialect
Famous quotes containing the words pitch and/or accent:
“He maintained that the case was lost or won by the time the final juror had been sworn in; his summation was set in his mind before the first witness was called. It was all in the orchestration, he claimed: in knowing how and where to pitch each and every particular argument; who to intimidate; who to trust, who to flatter and court; who to challenge; when to underplay and exactly when to let out all the stops.”
—Dorothy Uhnak (b. 1933)
“I lost my ridiculous accent without acquiring another”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)