イントネーション – Basic Japanese Intonation

There are few rules that help you guess the intonation for Japanese words. But if there is a rule there are always exceptions. For that reason, it is best to try to learn the intonation of words when you learn the words.

Rules can make learning easier. Luckily Japanese does have some rules for learning intonation. 

Verbs

Most verbs will have the accent on the second to last syllable or no accent. So for the word 書かくthe accent would be on か. For verbs that are 2 to 3 syllables, it is about half-and-half no accent or second to last syllable. When you get to 4 syllables and above no accent verbs are less common.

https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/

Adjectives

The majority of adjectives, like verbs, have the accent on the second to last syllable, but there are somewhere between 20 to 50 adjectives that are an exception to the rule and have no accent.

和語（わご）Native Japanese Words

Around 70% or so of these are not accepted. Depending on different factors and the length of the word though, some words are more likely to be accented than others. Two syllable words have about the same number of unaccented words, words accented on the first syllable, and words accented on the last. Four syllable words on the other hand have many more words that are unaccented.

漢語（かんご）Sino-Japanese Words

Half of the Japanese words of Chinese origin are unaccented. 4 syllable words tend to not be accented in most cases.

外来語（がいらいご）Foreign Loan Words

Most words will be accented. The most common pattern is to put the accent on the 3rd to the last syllable. If the words are newer and not fulling integrated into the Japanese language they will tend to have the original accent.

複合名詞（ふくごうめいし）Compound nouns

Compound nouns tend to be accented on the second word’s first syllable in the compound.

So now you know a little about Japanese intonation. If you want to learn more Japanese I reviewed a dictionary of grammar series which I personally recommend and use myself.

Questions have Rising Intonation

In Japanese when you ask a question the last syllable has a rising intonation.  This takes a little getting use to. The Japanese intonation on words is pretty subtle so just do a lot of listening to get a feel for it. 

I also have several other posts on various topics on Japanese Universe if you are interested.