Japanese words, most common first

A page for every word Tangoya asks: its reading, drawn with its pitch, its meanings, its kanji and a sentence you can hear.

THE SIX KINDS

擬音語OnomatopoeiaSounds, textures & feelings390 words 単漢字Single kanjiWords built on one kanji2,388 words 熟語Kanji compoundsTwo or more characters7,158 words かな語Kana wordsWritten in hiragana848 words 外来語Loan wordsKatakana and false friends565 words 複合動詞Compound verbsTwo verbs, one word503 words

Every kanji in those words ›

PITCH ACCENT

How to read the pitch line

Japanese words are said on two heights, low and high, one beat at a time. Each kana is a beat, called a mora, ん, っ and the long ー included; a small kana joins the one before it, as in きょ.

The line around the reading follows your voice: along the top of a mora said high, along the bottom of one said low, with a step where it moves.

A word starts low and rises after its first mora, unless it is 頭高, which starts high. It stays high up to the accented mora and drops after it. The number beside the reading says which mora that is; 0 means the voice never drops.

平板 (heiban)

はし0端 — end

Low on the first mora, then high to the end with no drop. A particle after it stays high too.

頭高 (atamadaka)

はし1箸 — chopsticks

High on the first mora, low from the second on.

中高 (nakadaka)

たまご2卵 — egg

Low, then high, then down again before the word ends.

尾高 (odaka)

はし2橋 — bridge

Low, then high to the end of the word, like 平板, but the drop falls on the particle after it: the line steps down past the last mora. You hear the difference only when a particle follows.

端, 箸 and 橋 are all read はし: the pitch is what tells them apart.