Japanese Phonetics Index Page
Added 2018-01-20 09:05:14 +0000 UTCFor $15 patrons: You're good to go. Just scroll down for a complete, up-to-date lesson list, ANKI flash card decks, as well as a links to other Patreon exclusive content such as collaboration videos with other creators, livestream Q&A, etc.
For visitors interested in signing up: Use this page to learn more about the Japanese Phonetics curriculum. Below, you'll find a brief summary of each lesson, as well as access to episodes one through five, which introduce the series and cover several fundamental phonetic concepts. Most lessons are around ten minutes long, and are presented in straightforward English. If, after exploring this page, you decide you'd like to sign up for $15, click here to register. After completing the payment process, just return to this page for immediate access to all Japanese Phonetics content!
To further enhance your learning, consider Emurse, a companion app that lets you immediately compare your pitch accent and pronunciation to the high-quality native recordings from the Japanese Phonetics lessons. In addition to speaking drills, Emurse also has exercises for listening, reading, comprehension, and extensive pre-built word lists which can be tested across all these parameters. Learn more about Emurse here.
Patrons signed up for the Japanese Phonetics tier also have the option to purchase private Japanese phonetics lessons. Lessons are available in flexible 30 and 60 minute sessions, with a discounted price for sets of four lessons.
Private Japanese Phonetics Lessons
1. Series Introduction
What is phonetics, and why is it worth studying? What will topics will we cover in this series? (Free lesson)
2. How I studied Japanese / Series philosophy
The methods and roadmap I used to study Japanese, as well as an explanation of the Japanese Phonetics pedagogy. (Free lesson)
3. Common Japanese misconceptions
Breaking down the following Japanese phonetic myths:
・"Japanese intonation is flat."
・"It's unnecessary to study pitch accent, because different dialects have different pitch-accent patterns ." (Free lesson)
4. Phonetic awareness and useful practices
The importance of active listening, and beneficial exercises for improving pitch accent and pronunciation. (Free lesson)
Long term Japanese study Plan with Matt from Mass Immersion Approach
Laying out the best long term study plan, and the role of phonetics in said plan, for Japanese learners striving for a high level of fluency. Filmed with Matt from Mass Immersion Approach.
5. Pitch-accent terminology
An introduction to the common terms used to teach pitch accent, e.g., pitch, stress, downstep, mora, etc.
5.1 Japanese voice and speaking style
Exploring typical Japanese voice and speaking style, and seeing how it differs from American English voice and speaking style.
5.2 Stress accent vs. pitch accent
A brief, impromptu break-down of the difference between stress accent and pitch accent.
6. The basics of Japanese pitch accent
Explaining the two basic Japanese pitch-accent rules, as well as the four fundamental Japanese pitch-accent patterns.
6.1 Improving pitch-accent awareness
Learning an effective exercise to hear and pronounce words from a pitch-accent perspective, as opposed to a stress-accent perspective.
6.2 Effective active listening drills
Becoming more aware of the four pitch-accent patterns though twenty minutes of active listening drills.
6.3 Binary graphics and spectrographs
Looking at the difference between binary pitch accent guides and actual pronunciation using computer-generated spectrographs, and introducing the "subtle drop in pitch".
6.4 Spectrographs and pitch accent continued
Continuing to use computer-generated spectrographs to compare and contrast 尾高 and 平板 words, and learning whether or not devoicing affects pitch accent in slower, more deliberate speech.
6.5 Devoicing and pitch & one mora words in isolation
Talking about devoicing and pitch in rapid, everyday speech, and learning about the pitch of one mora words when there is no following particle.
7. Free Japanese phonetic resources
Modern tools for quickly looking up pitch accent and pronunciation. (Free lesson)
8. Pitch accent for 1-4 mora nouns
Guidelines for accurately determining the pitch-accent patterns of 1-4 mora nouns, including the golden rule for four mora, two kanji nouns such as 勉強, 学校, or 発音.
9. Pitch accent for 5+ mora nouns and compounds
Rules for relatively long nouns, as well as a useful guideline for noun compounds.
10. Pitch accent for nouns in phrases
Explaining the pitch of です, でしょう, だろう, みたい, and らしい when attached to nouns. Includes an explanation of the different pitch-accent patterns for らしい.
11. Pitch-accent test #1
A test of the information and practices presented in lessons four through ten.
12. Introduction to i-adjectives
Beginning to talk about pitch accent in i-adjectives, specifically "downstep" i-adjectives.
13. Pitch accent in heiban i-adjectives
Exploring pitch accent in so-called "heiban i-adjectives".
14. Pitch-accent patterns for na-adjectives
Addressing the rules and guidelines for both common and obscure na-adjectives, such as 有名な or 豊かな.
15. Pitch accent for the さ form of na-adjectives
An explanation of the slightly complicated pitch-accent rules for the さ form of na-adjectives.
16. Pitch accent for the negative conjugations of i-adjectives
Covering the pitch-accent patterns of the negative conjugations of i-adjectives.
17. Pitch accent for the negative conjugations of na-adjectives and noun phrases
Guidelines for accurately forming the negative conjugations of na-adjectives and short noun phrases.
18. The importance of 平板 verbs / Pitch accent for 平板 verbs
Talking about why native English speakers tend to have difficulty with verbs in the 平板 family, such as 開ける, 登る, or 浴びる. Also covers the common conjugations of said verbs. (This lesson includes a link to a separate video with a list of common heiban verbs which are often mispronounced.)
19. Pitch-accent patterns for non-平板 conjugations of 平板 verbs
Addressing the less common, non-平板 conjugations of 平板 verbs.
19.1 Pitch-accent patterns for verbs and particles
Beginning to explore how particles attach to verbs, primarily 平板 verbs.
20. Pitch-accent patterns for 頭高 verbs
A concise overview of the various conjugations for 頭高 verbs, such as 帰る or 待つ.
21. Rules for determining verb pitch accent
Extremely useful rules for determining the pitch-accent family of everyday verbs. For example, the pitch-accent pattern for verbs that end with ぶ, and the relationship between transitive and intransitive verbs.
22. Pitch-accent patterns for 中高 verbs
Covering 中高 verbs, such as 食べる, 走る, and 泳ぐ, and their various conjugations.
23. Verb wrap-up / General advice
Additional information and practical tips for improving verb pitch accent, including compound verbs, conjugation advice, and some exceptions.
24. Pitch-accent test #2
A test of the information and practices presented in lessons twelve through twenty-three.
25. Introduction to sentence-level pitch accent
Explaining how to pitch changes when words are connected at the sentence level.
26. Introduction to terracing
Covering 'terracing', one of the pitch-accent phenomena which makes sentences sound more natural. (Note: On October 29, 2021, I took down this lesson, and replaced it with the newer version of lesson 6.3, which I believe provides a much better framework for sentence-level pitch accent than this older lesson on 'terracing'. I will not be recreating this lesson, as I believe the newer information in lesson 6.3 is much more easy to understand and useful.)
27. Sentence-level pitch accent and phonetic awareness
Continuing to talk about sentence-level pitch accent, and re-addressing phonetic awareness using information presented in the series thus far. Plus, a simple challenge for improving pitch accent in a major way.
28. Pitch accent in question words and phrases
The rules and guidelines for pitch accent in questions, both at the word and sentence level.
29. Final thoughts on sentence level pitch accent
Discussing pitch accent in sentences and introducing a practical approach to sentence-level pitch accent.
30. Beginner-intermediate pitch-accent cheat sheet
A concise summary of every major rule and guideline introduced in lessons five through twenty nine. Particularly useful for review.
31. Pitch-accent FAQ
Answering common questions related to pitch accent, such as:
・Is it appropriate to use anime to study pitch accent?
・How much Japanese grammar and vocabulary should I know before studying phonetics?
32. Pitch-accent test #3
A comprehensive test of beginner / intermediate Japanese pitch accent.
Note: Episode thirty-two is the last episode of the pitch-accent sub-series. Episodes thirty-three to fifty-seven address pronunciation.
33. Devoicing
An in-depth explanation of the phonetic phenomenon known as devoicing, as well as how to reproduce said phenomenon to sound noticeably more natural.
33 (Part two). Devoicing follow-up
Continuing to talk about devoicing. Covers ideas such as devoicing vs. vowel dropping, as well as devoicing of the back vowels, あ, え, and お.
34. Japanese articulatory setting
Analyzing the default position of the lips, jaw, and tongue in Japanese.
35. Introduction to vowels
A look at the five vowels in Japanese, in the context of the IPA vowel chart.
36. Long vowels
Exploring long vowels and related topics such as resonance and rearticulation.
37. Vowel combinations
Diving into vowel combinations, including standard sequences such as [a][i], as well as the more complicated えい and おう.
38. Additional tips for vowel pronunciation
Analyzing vowel perception, reduction, centralization, and word-final long vowel shortening.
39. Vowel wrap up
Further dissecting the vowel combination えい.
40. The object marker を
A pragmatic approach to を and its various acceptable pronunciations.
41. The consonants K and G
Looking at the consonants K and G, as well as some advanced phonetic phenomena related to these sounds.
42. The consonant S
Breaking down the standard S, as well as the more challenging し sound.
43. The consonants Z and J
Exploring all of the pronunciations of the voiced consonants, Z and J.
44. The consonants T, Ch, and Ts
Learning about the various Japanese 't' sounds, and how they differ from their English counterparts.
45. The small 'tsu'
An in-depth look at the small 'tsu' AKA the sokuon (促音), including an explanation on why words like ドッグ and ベッド often sound like ドック and ベット.
46. The consonant D
Talking about the Japanese 'd' sounds. Supplemented with historical information on why ぢ and じ, and づ and ず are pronounced the same, as well as why certain 'd' sounds never appear at the beginning of words.
47. The consonant N
Analyzing the standard 'n' sounds with native recordings. Includes an explanation about why it's critical to think of the standard 'n' sounds as completely separate from ん AKA the hatsuon (撥音).
48. The consonant H
Breaking down the three different Japanese 'h' sounds. Contains a detailed explanation of both ふ, and the often overlooked, but challenging ひ.
49. The consonants B and P
Exploring the Japanese 'b' and 'p' with native recordings. Includes information about consonant strength, aspiration, and weakening.
50. The M sounds & pronunciation sub-series review
Analyzing the Japanese 'm' sounds and looking back at all of the major points from episodes 33 to 49.
51. The textbook R sounds
A thorough introduction to the standard Japanese 'r' sounds, with multiple native recordings. Covers [ɾ], [[ɾʲ], and how the r sounds are pronounced after ん.
52. The mainstream R variations and common R issues
Addressing the R variations [r], [r ː ː ː], [l], and [d], as well as retroflex and nasalization problems that learners have with the textbook R sounds.
53. The approximants Y and W
Learning about the Japanese approximants [j] and [ɰ], and contrasting the latter with its English counterpart [w].
54. Introduction to ん
Exploring all of the pronunciations of ん, or what's known in Japanese as the 撥音 (はつおん) with detailed graphics and native recordings.
55. The nasalized vowel [ĩ]
A thorough analysis of [ĩ], arguably the most difficult variant of ん. Includes information on the common 'N mistake', as well as an effective drill for fixing said issue.
56. Slurring in Japanese
An overview of slurring in Japanese, including useful tricks such as N-vowel deletion, and pre-は vowel-replacement.
57. Pronunciation Q&A
Answering Patron-submitted questions on topics such as consecutive R sounds, the perception of regional dialects, and timing.
58. Pitch-accent review and useful pitch-accent practices
Reviewing and clarifying some basic pitch-accent information, as well as looking at a couple of effective pitch-accent exercises (the 'speed trick' and 'calm character').
59. The special sound rule, the katakana rule, and syllables
A brief introduction to the -3 rule and how it relates to the special sounds. Also a thorough explanation of the katakana rule, and an explanation of Japanese syllable structure.
60. Exceptions to the katakana rule and introduction to the の rules
An overview of the two primary exceptions to the katakana rule, as well as a basic explanation of the pitch-changing possessive 'の'.
61. Exceptions to the の rule and common words with multiple pitch accent patterns
Exploring the exceptions to the の rule, and learning about why words such as 人 and 上 exhibit multiple pitch-accent patterns in everyday speech.
62. Pitch accent in first names
Learning the main rules for accurately determining the pitch accent of common Japanese first names.
63. Pitch accent in last names
Breaking down several useful guidelines for determining the pitch accent of common last names, and a cheat sheet for the ten most common Japanese last names.
64. Pitch accent in full names and titles
Analyzing pitch accent in full names such as Satō Harumi, and exploring how titles such as san, sama, or sensei. affect pitch accent.
65. Introduction to numbers
Memorizing the pitch accent for two fundamental number sets and covering the difference in 椅子が二つあります and 二つの椅子があります.
66. Pitch accent in numbers greater than ten
Learning useful rules for the numbers eleven through nineteen, the intervals of a thousand and ten thousand, and outright memorizing the pitch accent of the intervals of ten and a hundred.
67. Pitch accent in complex number compounds
Exploring a useful guideline for determining the pitch of complex number compounds such as 89, 251, and 2,426.
68. Introduction to pitch accent in counters
Breaking down pitch accent in counters through examples from one of the more straightforward counter groups: Western counters.
69. The regular counter groups
Learning the single major exception to the Western counter rule and the two regular counter groups.
70. Atamadaka counters and irregular counters
An explanation of so-called first-mora-high counters and common irregular counters.
71. The money counter, 円
An overview on how the money counter, 円 combines with different kinds of numbers
72. Counter related speaker variation
Exploring alternate pronunciations of certain number-counter combinations, and learning about the peculiarities of the number 15.
73. Pitch accent in adverbial counters
Breaking down adverbial pitch-accent transformation in counters such as 回 and 冊.
74. Introduction to pitch accent in long particles
Explaining how long particles such as から, だけ, or まで. combine with nouns.
75. Accent deletion and pre-accenting in long particles
Learning how long particles such as ぐらい and しか can change the pitch of preceding nouns.
76. Pitch accent in long-particle strings
Analyzing the different ways long-particle strings such as までは, からは, までです, and からです attach to nouns.
77. Introduction to pitch accent in honorifics
Breaking down pitch accent in honorific 'compounds' such as お鍋 and お迎え.
78. Pitch accent in honorifics part II
Explaining a couple of practical rules for the pitch accent of honorific words, and outright memorizing the pitch accent of common honorific words with overly complicated rules. (This lesson includes a link to a video excerpt featuring just the honorific compounds.)
79. Pitch accent in common suffixes part I
Breaking down how the common suffixes 的, 並, and っぽい affect the pitch of preceding words.
80. Pitch accent in common suffixes part II
Explaining how more common suffixes, such as たて, affect the pitch accent of preceding words.
Additional content:
Pitch accent Anki decks
This post features four Anki pitch-accent decks with native recordings, and some information on Anki and how to get set up. Patrons can download these decks and free Anki software to supplement their studies, and to quickly and effectively test their pitch-accent listening abilities.
1st Q&A with Matt from the Mass Immersion Approach
A 50 minute collaboration with Matt from the Mass Immersion Approach answering Japanese related questions from Patrons.
2nd Q&A with Matt from the Mass Immersion Approach
A follow-up collaboration with Matt from the Matt from the Mass Immersion Approach, again answering Japanese related questions from Patrons.
Tofugu Article
A piece I wrote for the Japan-interest site Tofugu about the various tools and practices I used to study Japanese. Addresses primarily phonetics and creative writing.
Comments
Hey, Sashin. JP here. At this point Dōgen does not have any more content planned for the course. We've discussed this a few times, and one of the things he's said is that his focus has always been on finding simple rules that cover as many use cases as possible, and he feels he's covered most of what he can that fits this. From here the rules become more complicated and narrow, dealing more and more with exceptions and rare usage. Things could change in the future. If they do, this is one of the first places we'll make an announcement!
Dogen
2024-08-02 08:39:53 +0000 UTCI was reading through the list of videos here, and I was wondering if the course was finished. Is there any more planned content on the horizon?
Sashin Exists
2024-07-30 21:37:23 +0000 UTCHi, Kenzie. JP here, Dōgen's business partner. I'm helping manage the messages here on Patreon. That's a good question, and I'm sure answers are going to be highly individualistic. Some people start the course early in their Japanese studies, while others are quite advanced and are looking for a resource on pitch-accent and phonetics. You should not binge watch the series. As you said, there's a lot of information here. You might pick up some lessons in a single day, while others might require multiple watches over a week. An important point is to take notes as you watch, especially if you have any questions. Dōgen's series is quite comprehensive, and many questions that you might have are likely addressed elsewhere in the series. Pay attention to the drills Dōgen talks about in the series, including recording yourself. Many people proceed through the entire series in order, while others find it helpful to get through the first several lessons (until about lesson 7) , then they skip ahead to the pronunciation sub-series (lessons 33 through 57) to work on fundamentals like vowels, consonants, devoicing, and other aspects of Japanese pronunciation, before returning to the lessons in order. I hope this helps give you a little direction, and best of luck in your studies!
Dogen
2024-05-29 09:00:01 +0000 UTCI was wondering how people are using this course? Each episode has a lot of information, and it’s been difficult for me to remember all the rules. So how are people actionably taking the lessons and applying them?
Kenzie Renea
2024-05-27 13:53:57 +0000 UTCCheck out episodes 8/9, It's slightly different than your particular example but the concept is the same I believe.
David Zhang
2024-01-21 14:35:14 +0000 UTCDoes anybody know if there's a lesson here that covers words that just randomly change pitch? Or maybe a lesson on whether a single particle like も could affect the pitch of a noun? Because there's this word 一歩 that is Atamadaka, but suddenly changes to Heiban when you say it in the sentence 一歩も動けず. Trying to find the reason for why this might be and not having much luck...
Jouzu Juls
2024-01-15 15:53:38 +0000 UTC"Sentence level intonation with pauses" would be an interesting topic to cover. In my experience, when people pause part way through a sentence, they often say the trailing particle with a high (and slightly falling) tone right before the pause. I've read some articles touching on this topic and related topics, but it would nice to hear your perspective on this.
juliaandpeter
2022-10-28 07:59:40 +0000 UTCTime to get jozu.
ToKini Andy
2022-03-12 06:53:17 +0000 UTCIt's easier to learn intermediate to advanced Japanese with kanji but you don't need to worry about learning a lot with conscious effort in the beginning, you also learn a lot unconsciously and you can still take it on later in your Japanese learning journey.
Claes Wächtler
2022-02-14 18:15:36 +0000 UTCThe movie is 十二人の優しい日本人
Claes Wächtler
2022-02-14 18:13:15 +0000 UTCHi Dogen. which episode contained recommendations of japanese movies to watch, in order to immerse into pronounciation and japanese pitch accent?
Marek Jasovsky
2021-11-06 22:02:06 +0000 UTCHi Dogen, i hope you see my comment , i really need like an answer to this question, i started like 2 months ago and my goal is to be able to speak fluently on a conversational level with the right pitch accent too cause i love how japanese sounds, but i am not that interested in reading/writing at least not until i know how to speak it well. My question is do i have to learn a bunch of kanji to be able to progress with my speaking or will it hinder me so much in my journey to speaking japanese that it;s better to sacrifice time to learn it now ? Also how did u do it ?
Alexandre Prodan
2021-10-28 00:48:01 +0000 UTCAlright Dogen, thank you.
Georg Langeder
2021-05-09 05:53:02 +0000 UTCHi George. The remade version of lesson 12 (which I'm currently making again) can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/43940672 The older versions of lessons 12 and 13 can also be found in the description of this link (after clicking on the above link just look before the video and you should be able to find them). Cheers!
Dogen
2021-05-08 11:33:09 +0000 UTCHi Dogen, I think it's great that you're remaking some of the lessons and I intend on watching all the updated versions as soon as they come out. However, it seems like they take some time to make, so in the meantime I would like to watch the old versions. Since I haven't been able to find them on your Patreon, I'd like to ask if there's a way to watch them.
Georg Langeder
2021-05-08 11:02:29 +0000 UTCThank you for all the feedback William! I'll be sure to keep this in mind as I expand the series with my new partner JP. I think there is a lot of good information in here. Cheers!
Dogen
2021-03-26 05:51:46 +0000 UTCI think the noun and "nounified" short form of the verb are distinct. You can say "水を飲み[1]に行く", but leave out the 水を to make it generic. Then there's the noun 飲み[2] that means 酒を飲むこと. I felt a difference in connotation of "going for the purpose of drinking(noun)" and "going to drink(verb)" within the context I heard them in and it seemed to align with the pitch accent, but perhaps I was just drunk. I'm really grateful for your lessons. I want to share my experiences and what I've learned since I was a complete beginner to pitch accent. You've laid out the system at this point, but I have some ideas to address other points like how to internalize the pitch accent system if you don't mind my unsolicited rambling. Pitch-focused reading with OJAD Prosody Tutor was a painful few months that were so worth it. I got into the habit of devoicing, which it predicts very well, and just seeing the patterns over the kana visually over and over again without processing, abstracted from the kanji, with the downward trend in tone and terracing, while being able to playback a robotic re-edition stripped of all love and emotion really helped. I'd try to predict the high and low tones of the entire passage based on my subvocalization beforehand, check the results, reproduce it more accurately with the help of visual aids and without the burden of kanji, check against the robotic voice for big flaws if I felt like I could benefit from it. I went from aimlessly saying things that don't match any pitch accent pattern to instinctively getting sentence level pitch accent down (at least in a very generic way). Before this, I wasn't having much luck in looking up the pitch accent of each word as I was reading, pronouncing it in my head as if it were the first word in the sentence and without phrase boundaries, and continuing along in a broken up fashion before trying the whole sentence at once. Trying to hold together the readings of the kanji, meaning of the sentence, pitch accent (and mentally conjugating the pitch accent for verbs and other odd rules), etc. was just too much for anything to really click. I didn't have much processing power left to really push the envelope for improvement. Combined with your lessons, a popup pitch accent dictionary, and https://youglish.com/japanese to look up noun compounds or any words not in the popup dictionary, I believe OJAD Prosody Tutor is the easiest way especially for beginners to drill the pitch accent system and rewire bad habits until it becomes second nature. If you agree, I'd also try to find all the shortcomings of OJAD Prosody Tutor where they lie to you and address them, and really push the website. Like 時 being atamadaka for most readings unlike the odaka reading found in pitch accent dictionaries, compound nouns, that even if represented as all low tones words like こと、よう、ところ still have slight downsteps in most cases, a recommendation to go through all your lessons first, etc. Another thing is that a lot of people are scared off by how much they think they have to learn or overestimate the investment required and that could be addressed. 1)The 20/80 rule, where learning 20% will cover ~80% of what you'll use. 2)The fact that your active vocabulary is much smaller than your passive vocabulary and you could learn the pitch accent of just words you'll use if you wanted to. 3) Transitive/intransitive rule to cut verbs in half. 4) Verbs/adjectives basically follow only two patterns. 5) Learning pitch accent of new words can be as simple as noticing where the downstep occurs if it does and absorbing a lot without trying. 6) System could take a week or two to learn and a few months to internalize, which is done through immersion anyway Lastly, I feel that learning standard pitch accent for i-adjectives should be what's recommended since it's what one would encounter most in their immersion. For heiban i-adjectives, pronouncing them differently from downstep i-adjectives helps keep them separate in your head too. I feel that my listening skills spiked precisely because what I was subvocalizing (devoicing+pitch accent) started matching what I heard in immersion. That could be a big sticking point to learning the pitch accent system even if your goal isn't to speak.
William Ly
2021-03-25 14:08:22 +0000 UTCHi William! Thanks for letting me know. This isn't a subject I've researched properly, so I'll need just a few days before I give any kind of advice, however elementary it may be. I promise I will get back to you in the near future, however! Thank you for the understanding, and talk to you again soon!
Dogen
2021-03-23 11:44:27 +0000 UTCそれから猫探しも諦め、ふたたびえきしゃにかえってきたおれたち。 諦め is a heiban word, but I feel inclined to read it as [3] in the sentence. OJAD Prosody Tutor seems to suggest it too and it sounds more natural to me to hear it as [3]. Another example would be 話し. Don't have the example sentence, but as a word it's [3], but 話す is [2]、and I feel like reading it as [2] when I see it connecting to sentences. Another one I remember is 降り. As a word (which seems to have other similar meanings other than just being the i-stem of 降る） it's [2], but 降る is [1]. For the most part, they seem fairly distinct, and I wonder if I should pronounce them differently too (降り[2] as a noun/subject vs 降り[1?] as the i-stem of the verb 降る connecting sentences together). As for -kata, I can't remember any good examples, but I'm talking about the less common ones that are more done on the fly that won't show up in a pitch accent dictionary. A common one that can be looked up is 話し方. It can be pronounced [4] or [5], yet there are many other -kata words I've looked up where only either the heiban variant or nakadaka version (usually downstep on the ka of kata) is listed. Is it word specific where you're just gonna have to learn what sounds right with each verb? Or perhaps there's a more general guideline like heiban is always okay, or most of them are heiban so it's better to default to that? I come across many -kata conjugated verbs in novels that aren't in any pitch accent dictionary and wonder how I should pronounce them. That's the problem I want to solve.
William Ly
2021-03-21 23:42:07 +0000 UTCHi William! Thanks for the support. I was wondering if you could give me some example sentences and words such that I know exactly what you’re talking about? Thank you!
Dogen
2021-03-21 23:16:15 +0000 UTCHello, thanks a lot for your lessons. I have a few questions! In novels, they connect sentences by using the i-stem of verbs a lot. And a lot of those i-stem nouns are heiban and lose the downstep as a result. 1) Should I try to pronounce them as they would be pronounced as an i-stem noun? 2) If it depends, do you have any rules of thumb to use? 3) Are there any guidelines for how an i-stem noun's pitch accent changes based on the verb? For me, i-stem verbs/nouns and any pitch accent guidelines concerning them are probably the last big piece that hasn't been covered yet that I've encountered so far. A lesson on this someday would be ideal. Another smaller one would be about adding -kata to the i-stems of the verb. They usually have the downstep on ka or are heiban. 4) Can both be correct? 5) Which would be the best default?
William Ly
2021-03-21 22:25:55 +0000 UTCHi Luke! Thanks for the message. This is a topic I'm less likely to cover as I think it would be less beneficial to the majority of learners compared to something such as 擬音語・擬態語, as you mentioned earlier, but it certainly is good food for thought. I'll try to keep these kinds of words in mind as I continue my research. Cheers!
Dogen
2021-03-10 11:35:30 +0000 UTCHi Dogen! I just throwing in another thought. I'm really curious about patterns in "baby talk" (I have a 2-year-old whose primary language is Japanese). I've been using 絵本読み聞かせ videos from youtube as one of my primary practice tools. Today I was surprised to realize that わに is 頭高 but ワニワニ is 中高 (falling after second mora). Anyway, this is another topic that I'd like to learn more about, especially since baby talk words are less likely to be listed in a lot of normal references. Thanks for what you do!
Luke Winikates
2021-03-07 15:47:01 +0000 UTCHi Luke! This isn't something that I've covered yet, but it is something that I'd like to cover in the future, as these kinds of words are typically more complicated that most people realize. Cheers!
Dogen
2021-03-04 02:15:05 +0000 UTCHi Dogen - I'm just starting the series, and really enjoying it. I'm still working my way through my first watching of the series, but I was curious if any of the videos address 擬態語・擬音語・擬声語 specifically? I was wondering if there's a single pattern or perhaps a multitude of patterns to their pitch accent.
Luke Winikates
2021-03-02 15:51:41 +0000 UTCHi Kentaro! Yes I believe you're correct; みんな in my memory stays 尾高 even when の is attached to it. I'm not sure why の changes 尾高 nouns into 平板, but it does, but also only for some kinds of words. In fact, it seems that this の induced 平板 transformation might be more of an exception than the standard rule, as I explain in the lessons on this subject. I'd just like to clarify you've seen both of the lessons (60 and 61) on this particular subject? I think they would probably answer any questions you have on the subject!
Dogen
2021-02-18 03:01:26 +0000 UTCHi Dogen. 皆んな seems to like it does not become 平板 even when の attaches to it. Am I hearing it right and are there other words like this? Also, do you happen to know why の changes 尾高 nouns to 平板?
Kentaro Kawamura
2021-02-16 18:43:35 +0000 UTCHi C! Very glad to hear that you're enjoying the series and benefited from my other work. Please note that I don't cover 関西弁 in my series, but you will be able to learn a massive amount about 標準語! Cheers!
Dogen
2021-02-12 05:22:33 +0000 UTCHey Dogen thanks so much for what you brought us here I am originally from France but I moved to Kyoto very end of december 2019 to start working in tourism industry; got through the pandemic and crazy stuff; I tried hard to get a nice job+working visa because I wanted to stay here in Japan. After weeks of shuushoku katudou I finally get hired in a very high-end ryokan in Arima onsen. Life is great now ! I feel save and relieved I want to let you know you played a great role in my success. I arrived with a pretty much n1 n2 lvl and now am on my way to get a nice kansai ben strenghen by all these 79 lessons and all the knowledge they contain. Thanks Dogen!
C Beny
2021-02-12 00:14:28 +0000 UTCHi Tobias, I cover that in this lesson: https://www.patreon.com/posts/japanese-episode-7705798 Cheers!
Dogen
2020-12-28 06:14:57 +0000 UTCHi Dogen. I've been wondering what the pitch accent pattern is for です and all the conjugations. I haven't seen anything about it in the series yet. Are there any rules for that?
Tobias Thieme
2020-12-27 19:56:15 +0000 UTCHi Steffel! I think standard APA is fine, but please be sure to mention when I'm also quoting someone else. That is to say, be sure to cite both me and whatever resource I'm citing, if I do cite something. Cheers!
Dogen
2020-12-26 12:03:14 +0000 UTCHello Dogen :) I'm planning to write an essay (it might turn into a paper tho) on the Japanese pitch accent and I am mainly using your videos to gather information now. Since you're working at a university, I was wondering if you could tell me how I can cite/quote you in my essay? We're using the APA citation style at my university! (I study Linguistics, btw!) Have a nice day!
Shutefu3
2020-12-25 16:22:49 +0000 UTCHi Howard. I don't think I cover this specifically, but the general rule of thumb, if I remember correctly, is that if a downstep occurs in the て form, as it does in 食べて, as in TAbete, then the いる will attach low, as in TAbeteiru. Likewise, if a downstep doesn't occur low in the て form, like in 行って, as in iTTE, then the いる will attach high, as in iTTEIRU. Note that this is just for the いる—there are more complicated rules for when particles attach to the いる in 平板 verbs, but these are a bit too complicated to cover here. Cheers!
Dogen
2020-12-21 06:43:58 +0000 UTCHi Dogen, I am a long time fan, thanks for helping me take my spoken Japanese to the next level. Forgive me if this has been covered, but I was wondering if you'd be going through how present continuous tense, or more generally, combined strings of verbs connected by て work. For example, 食べている、行ってる、etc.
Howard Chan
2020-12-20 13:50:34 +0000 UTCHi Xember! Thank you very much for signing up. I generally think it's best to wait a little bit more, but I actually discuss this topic in detail with my friend Matt in this video—do you mind watching this video first to see if it answers your questions? https://www.patreon.com/posts/long-term-road-38355581 Thank you!
Dogen
2020-12-18 04:44:10 +0000 UTCHello I only know a few words here and there and I just recently completed memorizing my Hiragana and Katakana. Do you think it is fine for me to jump head first into the phonetics curriculum or should I wait until I've gotten a little further into my vocab, kanji, and grammar? Edit: I figured I should probably have read up a bit to see if someone else had a similar comment, and wouldn't ya know it someone did. At what point then would you recommend to shift from my grammar and kanji to phonetics? For example after getting a grasp on grammar and learning x amount of kanji or vocab.
Xember
2020-12-17 16:39:01 +0000 UTCHi! I've read some conflicting information on this, but Dr. Vance who I trust the most, (The Sounds of Japanese, 2008, page 76 and page 87—though I often refer to and cite his other works as well) describe the Japanese T as "lamino-alveolar," and says that "this sound has a palatalized allophone before /i/, though superimposing the tongue shape for [i] has only a negligible effect on the closure location for an alveolar stop". For N, he says that "in a sound like な the N is lamino-alveolar, just like /t/, but before /i/ it is lamino-alveopalatal. Hopefully this helps!
Dogen
2020-11-08 11:55:00 +0000 UTCDo you know the exact place of articulation for ティ/ディ? I feel like they might be dente-alveolar rather than alveolo-palatal which also leads me to think that に might actually be denti-alveolar too, but I'm not sure.
Kentaro Kawamura
2020-11-08 06:17:24 +0000 UTCHi Justice, I would encourage you to first watch through the initial pitch-accent sub-series, and to try and memorize some, if not many of the important rules, such as the rule for compounds, the 4 mora 2 kanji rule, etc. By doing this you can memorize the pitch-accent for hundreds, if not thousands of words simply without having to memorize each word individually. After doing this I'd also recommend that you remember the pitch-accent for words that you use on a regular basis. I often talk about writing in Japanese, so I've memorized the pitch-accent of several writing terms, for example. Anki decks can certainly help as well when it comes to memorizing things like verb conjugation pitch-accent, etc., which I also lay out in the series. Cheers!
Dogen
2020-05-22 00:01:32 +0000 UTCSo, what's the best way to use this information to actually get Pitch Accent down? Should I make an anki deck to just memorize every word's pitch accent?
Justice
2020-05-21 22:26:07 +0000 UTCHi Malwina! Thanks for the message. Sorry for the confusion, but I actually think it would be better to wait about six months or so to learn at least a base level of grammar and vocabulary (in my eyes this still falls into the elementary level, so I don't think you'll build too many bad habits in the initial six months, provided you're listening to as much native speech as possible; incidentally during this particular period I would also recommend concentrating on input rather than output). Hope this clarifies things! Cheers!
Dogen
2020-05-05 03:16:47 +0000 UTCHi Dogen! I have started learning Japanese a few weeks ago; I'm really just starting and wondering if I should start your phonetics series now or later. I have very little vocab so far but I do like having a systematic (maybe perfectionist?) approach to language learning. I like the idea of pronouncing words correctly from the get-go rather than having to correct myself later on. But I also don't want to overdo it. Based on this short intro, would you recommend starting the series now, or rather waiting a bit longer? --- Edit: Ok I just watched your introductory videos and answered my own question with YES it makes sense to learn phonetics "properly" right away :-) Looking forward to it!
Malwina .
2020-05-04 16:24:54 +0000 UTCHi UMRT! Yes, this series is still ongoing (the next episode on honorifics should be out on the 14th), though most of the new content at this point is very advanced. I usually release new lessons every two weeks or so (this is the schedule I shoot for, but the actual release date is in reality a bit more than every two weeks). Hope that this helps! Cheers!
Dogen
2020-05-02 11:41:22 +0000 UTCHey Dogen! Is it still ongoing? If so, how many episodes are you planning to record/how often do you upload new ones? Thanks in advance!
UMRT
2020-05-01 22:23:27 +0000 UTCHi Aline! Studying phonetics will certainly improve your pronunciation, but it will only have a small impact on your ability to communicate (get your point across, and understand what people are saying) in Japanese. Thus, if you number one goal is to improve your pronunciation then it may be better to spend a bit more time with a course such as Genki (while also immersing yourself in as much native speech as possible) rather than phonetics. That said, if you do think you will eventually study phonetics, then it's usually better to study it sooner rather than later. hope this helps! Cheers!
Dogen
2020-04-18 12:30:45 +0000 UTCStudying Japanese phonetics will help to improve my ability to speak (and understand)? This is my weakest ability and, this year, I'm determined to do anything to improve this weakness.
Maigomaika
2020-04-17 22:06:03 +0000 UTCHi Nagy! My pleasure! In theory the second word will exhibit a downstep as well, but it really all depends on what the speaker is trying to emphasize. Do you mind watching episode 29? I think that this may answer most of your questions! Here is a link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/japanese-episode-14896259
Dogen
2020-03-28 07:04:26 +0000 UTCHi Dogan! First of all, I would like to thank you for this amazing series. Everything I learned about pitch accent, I learned from you. I also have a question: as far as I understand, if an 尾高 is followed by an 頭高, the pitch drops twice: once on the last mora of the first word and once on the first mora of the second word. How drastic is this second drop? Is it practical to try and consciously mimic it? I find it mentally difficult to keep track of how many drops have already occurred in some longer sentences. Thank you so much!
Nagy Milán
2020-03-27 20:28:15 +0000 UTCHi Anh! I generally recommend that people study in a wholistic or all-around manner for about six months or so before using this series, as I do often talk about conjugations, etc. That said, the first ten or so lessons would still certainly be beneficial even for an absolute beginner. Cheers!
Dogen
2020-03-10 05:53:19 +0000 UTCHello! What would you say is the level one should be at to start your course? I just started learning Japanese (as in, 2 weeks!), but I want to get the pitch and sentence intonation right early on. Knowing my style of studying a foreign language, I'll need to have things explained systematically, rather than just learn beginner vocab and sentence structures and just blindly repeat them without knowing how Japanese phonetics works. On the other hand, I'm afraid that the concepts mentioned in the course (particles, conjugations, adj, etc.) will be too advanced for me? Many thanks!
anh nguyen
2020-03-09 13:55:02 +0000 UTCHi Safarialuna! A slash simply indicates where the downstep occurs. For example, お は \ し means that the pitch starts low, rises slightly, then drops again between は and し. Like wise がくせい doesn't have a slash, which mean the word doesn't have a drop in pitch. Finally, せ \ か い has a slash after the せ, which means that せ is high, while か and い are low. Cheers!
Dogen
2020-03-03 05:30:22 +0000 UTCHi Donald—this is correct. I usually find that people have more pitch-accent errors than pronunciation errors in their Japanese, which is why I put the pitch-accent lessons first. That said, I don't believe that it would be a major detriment to go through the pronunciation lessons first. I would suggest, however, watching at least up to lesson nine of the series before skipping ahead to pronunciation. Cheers!
Dogen
2020-03-03 05:27:58 +0000 UTCHello! I'm thinking of downloading the app for NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典 (http://news.nhk-book.co.jp/archives/10093) but I don't know how to read the symbols. They recently changed it from those accent symbols above the word (which I don't get either) to slashes between the mora. Do you have a video on how to read this new form/方式？https://www.nhk-book.co.jp/detail/000000113452016.html
safarialuna
2020-03-02 16:20:58 +0000 UTCHi Dogen, I'm starting to work through the videos and I see you put the pronunciations videos after the pitch accent videos. I assume that's the order you suggest people work through them, but my question is whether doing this will cause me to already have some "fossilized" pronunciation errors by the time I get to the pronunciation videos. If my personal preference is to do the pronunciation first is this OK or do you have a strong opinion against this? Thanks!
Donald Allen
2020-02-08 02:01:54 +0000 UTCHi M! There are indeed multiple tests throughout the series, and the lesson after next will also be a sort of listening test. That said, I would encourage you to also record yourself daily, even if it's just saying various words from a book or passage, or talking about your day—when you look back at these videos in a month or two you should notice a major difference! Hope this helps!
Dogen
2020-01-27 01:19:35 +0000 UTCHi! Do you have some text/story/exercise that illustrates all of the topics you cover in this series? I want to record myself before and after completing this series to see how much my accent changes (although I did watch the first few introductory videos already).
M
2020-01-27 01:17:20 +0000 UTCHi Emory, in this case it may be worth trying to experiment putting a 'stop' sound such as 'T' (a very small, almost unsaid 'T') after す such that you cut yourself off from saying す for too long, as in 'Desu(t)'. Note that it's not actually necessary to fully articulate the sound here, you just want to stop the S sound by only beginning to make the T sound. Naturally you don't want this T to be noticeable for any listener, as that would defeat the purpose, this would just be an exercise that could help. Another thing that may help would be to try and pull your tongue back from your front teeth just slightly. Hopefully one of these will be useful! Cheers!
Dogen
2020-01-20 05:38:17 +0000 UTCHey Dogen, quick question if you don't mind. I am a native English speaker, and while studying abroad in Japan, my teacher would try to articulate that I was pronouncing the す in です and ます (as in the 食べます or 飲みます）incorrectly. I've been recording myself lately and finally hear what she was talking about. I have always had a very slight lisp while speaking English, and it seems this carries over into my Japanese to some extent. It seems like I get stuck on the "s" when devoicing, likely because of my lisp. It is almost like I linger on the "s" for a moment too long. I have listened to myself pronounce 素晴らしい, 寒い, and a few other relevant words, and the mispronunciation did not occur. This mistake appears particularly when I devoice "s," most noticeably at the end of a sentence when saying "です" and "ます." To clarify, I have watched your lesson on "s," and I tried to figure it out on my own (to no avail, unfortunately). Any suggestions? Thanks for all you do.
Emory Otott
2020-01-19 06:34:27 +0000 UTCThank you! And yes it is, the newest lesson will be out in about a week!
Dogen
2019-10-23 09:56:23 +0000 UTCこの授業シーリーズはすばらしいです！Is it still ongoing?
Abhi Ilindra
2019-10-22 15:40:14 +0000 UTCYeah! There are a lot of good ones but The Sounds is Japanese by Vance is a great place to start!
Dogen
2018-12-08 08:24:02 +0000 UTCDo you have a textbook you recommend for Japanese phonetics?
Andy
2018-12-08 02:55:19 +0000 UTCHi Maiira, thanks for the question! There actually are several rules, but they are very, very complicated. I covered this briefly in Episode 31, which you can access here: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/japanese-episode-15419186">https://www.patreon.com/posts/japanese-episode-15419186</a> I'm not sure about that particular example—have you asked her about her name specifically? I won't be able to provide too much additional help at the moment, but I plan on covering this issue extensively in the upcoming 'advanced pitch-accent' sub series. Apologies, and thank you for the support! ^^
Dogen
2018-09-07 01:01:12 +0000 UTChi dogen, small background and a question, im enrolled in a japanese course with a native speaker as the instructor and a TA, asking them has already failed as i got the whole japanese is flat, and when i asked them about pitch accent they both denied it. so my question, pitch accent for peoples names, is there a reliable way to figure out the pitch accent for names? do they follow the same pitch accent as the noun? the instructors would be 森先生 when i hear her say it for the class, it sounds atamadaka. maybe im overthinking this. how about names that i cant find a japanese word to find the pitch accent for?
maiira gavazza
2018-09-05 04:05:37 +0000 UTCHi Jon! I respect your courage! If you can read high level Japanese the Shinmeikai-accent dictionary actually has a fair amount of knowledge on Kansai-ben! Here's a link: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.jp/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.co.jp/</a>新明解日本語アクセント辞典-第2版-CD付き-金田一-春彦/dp/4385136726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1535182858&sr=8-1&keywords=新明解アクセント Hope this helps! ^^
Dogen
2018-08-25 07:41:20 +0000 UTCHi Dogen! I've watched your videos on phonetics on youtube, and thought they were really interesting, so I decided to try out the full course! Now, I live in Osaka, and do so exclusively because I think dialects are extremely cool, and I really want to learn Kansai-ben myself! I believe in one of your videos, you say that you would recommend simply learning standard Japanese, since information on dialects are scarce. I will stay on my high horse and study Kansai-ben, and intend to use these lessons to increase my understanding of phonetics better, so that I am better suited to picking up these patterns when speaking to people. So, do you have any more tips you could give me that could help in my pursuit of sounding Osaka-born? Thank you, both in advance for an answer and for sharing your already amazing knowledge with us! ^^
Jon Edvin Lona
2018-08-25 06:49:43 +0000 UTCHey Neeson! Unfortunately I can't sticky the post in the 'posts' section, but there is a permanent link on the top of my landing page ^^
Dogen
2018-04-11 09:42:03 +0000 UTCHey Dogen... Not sure how it is for you, but this post is not sticky!
Neeson Champion
2018-04-11 09:24:11 +0000 UTCHi Filip, Wow, thanks for the share! This is really valuable! Does this happen to include audio for the examples? Or would it only include audio if the original deck contained audio as well? Thanks again for the share!
Dogen
2018-01-24 00:50:56 +0000 UTCHi Rosemary. Thank you for the interest. They are also available on amazon.com or amazon.co.jp as kindle books. Here is a download link: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/</a>オドネル・ケビン/e/B00B7DLAVW/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0 Thanks again!
Dogen
2018-01-24 00:48:39 +0000 UTCHi, I'm not sure if someone hasn't already mentioned this, but for people who use Anki to learn vocabulary, there's a plugin (<a href="https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/932119536" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/932119536</a>) that automatically adds information about pitch accent, devoicing and nasalization to your new cards. It even gives you the ability to retroactively bulk-add this information for old cards. I use this in combination with the Anki/Chrome/Firefox plugin Yomichan (<a href="https://foosoft.net/projects/yomichan" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://foosoft.net/projects/yomichan</a>) which makes it possible to add vocabulary encountered on the web, including audio (e.g. from JapanesePod 101, as used on Jim Breen's website), with one click.
Filip Kostka
2018-01-23 17:48:05 +0000 UTCHi Dogen. First of all, thanks for your videos. My question, though, refers to your writing works. Are they only available on Japan iTunes?
Alecryn
2018-01-23 12:18:53 +0000 UTCHi Sherry. Interesting question! I don't worry about catering to Japanese people at all. In fact, I think that learning to believe in my own artistic sensitivities was probably the single most important thing I ever did for my writing 'career'. That said, it's no longer my goal to win the 芥川賞 or 直木賞; this is more of something I used to tell myself to keep my motivation high haha. Writing to win a literary award is probably the least effective way to win a literary award ^^ Appreciate the support!
Dogen
2018-01-22 08:13:24 +0000 UTCHi Dogen, Thanks for your reply. I will definitely keep your advice in mind. There is another questions I wanted to asked but forgot. You said in the book that one of your goal is to win 芥川賞/直木賞 and you also said that writing comedy is what you like. I would guess that most what Japanese people find funny would be very different what you are used to or what you would find funny. Do you think that would be a problem for you as a writer? Sometimes I say things that meant as a joke but are taken very seriously. On the other hand, when I am not trying to be funny, my Japanese teacher/friend could not stop laughing for a good minute. I know that my Japanese is nowhere near your level nor my understanding of Japanese. Stir interested to know if you have done something especially to cater to Japanese people or no?
sherrycous
2018-01-21 14:22:09 +0000 UTCHi Sherry. Thanks for the comment, really appreciate it. With regards to writing, I think it really boils down to the amount of hours you put into it. I mentioned it in the Tofugu article as well, but it took me a solid three years of writing before my Japanese prose was even comprehensible. That said, I've also learned that less is more—the more you try to decorate your writing with complicated words and unnecessary metaphors, the more difficult it becomes to understand (in my experience). Finally, as also mentioned in the article, try to find a single language partner who understands what you're trying to say. This proved to be extremely beneficial for me! Thanks for downloading the books—means a lot! ^^ 今後ともよろしくお願いします！
Dogen
2018-01-21 05:20:08 +0000 UTCI read your article on Tofugu and very impressed by your story, especially writing part. Since I have no plan move to Japan or work there. I am more interested in communicating with people in writing. I have been using Lang-8.com and try to write entries on things that I really want to discuss. As a Chinese who live in the United State for many years, I am interested in cultural difference between Chinese, Japanese and Americans among other things. I also wanted to what others think. I feel lang-8.com provided a good environment for that as well since most people who are interested in learning foreign languages are often open-minded and willing to listen and discuss various issue. The fact that you are doing your best to learn their language makes them more likely talk to you honestly. But it is hard to express complicate ideas using a foreign language. I bought your book from amazon.jp since I wanted to check out your writing as well. So far I am very impressed. The content is interesting and very easy for me to follow. I have been reading Japanese novels for a while now. I feel like the only way that I can improve besides practicing is to read more. I like your idea of collecting sentences electronically. I would like to see more about how you improve your writing in the future when you have time since not many teachers or Japanese learners are interested in improving wirting skills.
sherrycous
2018-01-20 19:32:39 +0000 UTCMy pleasure! Thank you for the support, Michael!
Dogen
2018-01-20 10:31:40 +0000 UTCThanks man! This will save me much scrolling time.
konnnichiwa
2018-01-20 10:11:57 +0000 UTC
