つたえる はつおん

Let’s grasp the rule of Japanese accents of verbs

Abstract

企画者:中川千惠子・木下直子

Accents of verbs

There are two accent types for verbs. Hills and mountains.

Verbs with hills accent: Verbs with no down tone after accent.

Verbs with mountains accent: Verbs with down tone after accent.

  辞書じしょけい けい けい
丘の動詞どうし (Verbs with hills accent) かう(買う)To buy かって(買って) かった(買った)
山の動詞どうし (Verbs with mountains accent) ˥う(飼う)To have (as a pet) ˥って(飼って) ˥った(飼った)

Practice

One will say A1 or A2. Listener will answer with B1 when they hear A1. If they hear A2, they will answer with B2. Let’s try.

Q1

A1:あのう、ちょっと 来˥ていただけませんか。(excuse me, could you come here?) B1:はい、行きます。(Sure, I am coming.)
A2:あのう、ちょっと 着ていただけませんか。(excuse me, could you try this on?) B2:ええ。でもサイズが合うかなあ。(Sure, but I am not sure about the size…)

Q2

A1:もうか˥える(帰る)?(are you going home soon?) B1:ううん、まだかえら˥ない。時間き˥てないし。(no not going home yet. Time has not come.)
A2:もう変える?(Are you going to change soon?) B2:ううん、まだかえない。まだ新しいし。(No not going to change yet. It is still new.)