will more often hear shitsúrei itashimashita ‘excuse me,’ instead of arígatō gozaimásu you will hear arígatō gozaimasu ‘thank you.’ Since the accent mark represents the last syllable before a FALL in pitch, it never occurs right before a pause. Before a pause, you cannot tell whether a word has a final accent or no accent at all; when you add a particle (such as the topic particle wa) it immediately becomes clear:
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| [cue 01-29] |
鼻。 Hana. Nose.
鼻は。 Hana wa… As for the nose…
花。 Haná. Flower.
花は。 Haná wa… As for the flower…
The term final accent refers not only to an accent on the very last syllable, but also often to one on the next-to-last syllable, provided the last syllable is the second of a vowel sequence—like kinō [ki-nó-o] ‘yesterday,’ chihō [chi-hó-o] ‘region,’ senséi [se-n-sé-i] or [se-n-sé-e] ‘teacher,’ kudasái [ku-da-sá-i] ‘please (give),’ or is the syllable nasal-like Nihón [ni-hó-n] ‘Japan,’ hón [ho-n] ‘book.’ In these cases, the intonation often extends over the last two syllables.
When a vowel becomes unvoiced or dropped (like u in arimásu ‘something exists,’ désu ‘something equals something,’ and itashimásu ‘I do’), the intonation usually covers the preceding syllable and the accent really disappears: arimasu [a-ri-ma-s]. The accent appears again, however, if the word is followed by another word as in Arimásu ka ‘Are there any?’ and Arimásu ga… ‘There are, but….’ Hereare some examples of the accent on various syllables. Listen for the pitch falls. Remember, the single phrases may be joined together into longer phrases and the later accents dropped.
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| [cue 01-30] |
いいですか。
Íi desu ka.
Is it all right?
だめです。
Damé desu.
It’s no good, it won’t do.
結構です。
Kékkō desu.
No, thank you.
忘れました。
Wasuremáshita.
I’ve forgotten (it).
分れましたか。
Wakarimáshita ka.
Did you understand?
好きですか。嫌いですか。
Sukí desu ka. Kirai désu ka.
Do you like it or not?
ちょっと来てください。
Chótto kíte kudasái. (Chótto kite kudasai.)
Please come here a minute.
いくらですか。
Íkura desu ka.
How much is it?
窓を開けてください。
Mádo o akete kudasái.
Please open the window.
戸を閉めてください。
To o shímete kudasái.
Please close the door.
戸を開けてください。
To o akete kudasái.
Please open the door.
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| [cue 01-31] |
Conversation
Annie (A) is talking with Professor Tanaka (T) on campus. She sees Makoto (M), whom she hasn’t seen for six months.
A. まことさん！
Makoto-san!
Makoto!
M. ああ，アニーさん。お元気ですか。
Ā, Anī-san. Ogenki desu ka.
Oh, Annie! How are you?
A. 元気です。まことさんは？
Genki desu. Makoto-san wa?
Yes, I’m fine. How about you, Makoto?
M. おかげさまで。元気です。
Okage-sama de. Genki desu.
I’m fine, too.
A. 田中先生, こちらはまことさんです。
Tanaka-sensei, kochira wa Makoto-san desu.
Profesor Tanaka, this is Makoto.
M. はじめまして。伊藤まことです。よろしくお願いします。
Hajimemashite. Itō
