Japanese Phonetics #7: Free Japanese Phonetic Resources

[@earthandcraft]

Holy shit my mind is BLOWN!!! I've tried to find a pitch accent dictionary forever and I never found a resource before this video that talks about the Apple dictionary. Thank you!

[@Dogen]

Not a problem! It's a great resource, right? ^^

[@earthandcraft]

Yes!! My husband and I have been actively searching for a good resource for awhile. And he's on Linux so he really appreciates the comment about how to do it for Linux. This lead to looking at the rest of your channel, such great content.

[@Dogen]

Not a problem! I'm glad that you find everything so useful ^^ let me know if you ever have any questions! :D

[@vargsvansify]

This is a part of Japanese I really never thought about until now. I've mostly been focused on reading, rather than speaking or writing, but this is very interesting. Maybe this is why japanese restaurant workers struggled to understand me that time in Tokyo when I asked for MIzu rather than miZU? Decided to become a Patreon and hope to learn lots! I'm aware that 33-year-old me might struggle a bit, since this comes pretty late in my studies (took my forst japanese class about ten years ago and then dropped it for a long time) but I'll do my best from here on.

[@Dogen]

Thanks so much for signing up vargnasify ^^ Yes, that is most likely why the didn't understand when you said 水, as the correct pronunciation is in fact miZU ^^ Even at 33 you should be able to learn a lot from the series. Feel free to message me if you every have any questions! Twitter works best :)

[@ayyylma0]

You seriously deserve 100,000's of subs man, thanks for the free content!

[@Dogen]

I tell myself the same thing everyday while looking in the mirror. I think I can I think I can I think I can

[@NERGYStudios]

2 years later and here we are!

[@connorcarter2327]

Just wanted to say a massive thank you, this video was insanely helpful to create a good set of resources for me to integrate into my studies early on! It's really surprising how none of my current study content (exercise books, online courses, podcast etc) even mentioned pitch accent. Much appreciated Dogen!

[@dxnxz53]

OMG forvo just blew my mind. best hint EVER !!!! 本当にありがとうございました。

[@iamwreched3294]

It's so weird to hear you speak English I thought you were a native Japanese speaker haha

[@Dogen]

Nope! still have a lot of work to do before I really sound native as well

[@Dogen]

appreciate it though!

[@trapsenpai]

You already sound near-indistinguishable from a native imho, but then again I'm not a native lmao

[@rpomusic]

yea, I can tell that he's got like 90% phonetics done but super close though. (Native Japanese here)

[@theonlyakuma]

Mr G are you on airbnb Sakado

[@LePetitNuageGris]

I didn't find the video redundant. In fact, I find it nice when you go off script every now and again. You sound more sincere (not that you don't sound sincere usually, it's just amplified). I will be checking out these websites. I feel really encouraged by this video that I can actually get a handle on Japanese phonetics. It wasn't that hard for me to mimic what I was hearing from that native speaker (of course in my own deeper vocal register). ありがとうございました。

[@noahbarger1]

wiktionary is a good resource, as far as i've seen. it doesn't have audio, but it does show the contour, which is quite nice

[@VIEW-ut3bu]

Thanks!

[@MsRandomBadger]

First time I wish I used an apple pc, just for that dictionary :P Thank you for the free resources!! This is awesome, will be using it for sure!

[@Dogen]

I'm neck deep in the apple ecosystem and have been enjoying it since day one : ) glad to hear that you were able to get a lot of use out of the resources!

[@holyone2]

Xavier has posted a solution for us Windows users that seems to work :)

[@trapsenpai]

So I've been using the Sanseido monolingual dic (www.sanseido.net) for nearly half a year now and I always wondered what the little numbers next to the entries were. Turns out they're pitch accent indicators! Prior to this video I had no idea. But yeah, Sanseido dictionary has very simple monolingual definitions, with pitch accent indicators. It also has a very comprehensive description of pitch accents (entirely in Japanese) and a pink version of the graph thing on this page! I saved the graph to my computer. www.sanseido.net/Main/dictionary/hanrei/meikoku_accent.aspx

[@weeklyfascination]

I've been using Macs for years and never knew that the dictionary had pitch accent. Wish I'd seen this 10 years ago, but better late than never! Thanks for the great info.

[@rottenabit]

7 years late for this gem but thank you Dogen, a lot!

[@SirShadowwolf]

As your lessons made me pretty curious about pitch accent ('though at least I've heard of it before), I happened to get the NHK accent dictionary for Android yesterday. It's purely Japanese (if you ignore the broken English), but it lists close to 73,000 words, so for people who understand Japanese, it seems really great so far. Note thought that it costs 3,086 yen. But on the bright side, it's really accessible and also, due to its nature as an NHK resource, has the standard accent for all the words listed. Another great point I noticed is that for example for 寺 and お寺 it lists the accent for both in one entry, so it doesn't only not ignore those ones, but even integrates them where they actually belong.

[@Dogen]

Wow, that's a great resource! Will take note of this and introduce in an upcoming lesson! Cheers!

[@Colindo]

Hi Dogen, great video. Also nice that you made that one publicly available. Hope you'll continue to get the great support on Patreon!

[@Dogen]

Thank you very much Colindo, really glad to hear that you enjoyed it. Patreon is still going 順調--thank you very much for the support! if you have any questions just let me know!

[@trapsenpai]

Dogen this video is so helpful! I've been studying for exactly 3.5 years now, and have made tons of progress in grammar, vocabulary & kanji. But my speaking is lacking and to be frank pitch accent is something I've paid virtually no attention to. Your videos are inspiring me to change that ASAP!

[@Dogen]

Really glad to hear that you were able to learn from this video アンジ先輩！If you haven't already I would highly encourage you to check out the paid series on Patreon, it has a ton of useful information! ^^ Thanks again and good luck with your studies!

[@SanderOpdam]

MIND. BLOWN! Thank you so much for this.

[@kurimsonkitsune4408]

I just realized I need to go back and relearn all the Japanese I know with phonetics. This may kill me.

[@Dogen]

haha it can be quite a shocking realization!

[@kurimsonkitsune4408]

@@Dogen you got that right. It's a good thing I really like japanese.

[@XPK15]

You'll be fine - I did the same thing when I decided to focus on English phonetics. I don't want to make such a mistake again when learning foreign languages, so I've been studying Japanese phonetics early on.

[@nemuitanuki]

​@@XPK15 was it worth it to go back and relearn words

[@takadacol]

Prosody Tutor looks very handy - looking forward to experimenting with that. Thanks!

[@yubei04]

For android users who don't mind 縦書き表示, I came across a 大辞林 dictionary that includes the pitch accent chart, although its admittedly not as easy to switch between dictionary entries and the chart. May be worth a look on Google Play. (Please note this isn't a free app) 大辞林｜ビッグローブ辞書：縦書き表示＆辞書をめくる感覚の検索

[@Dogen]

Thank you very much for this! Will add this to the description section!

[@johnmackenreillytag]

Thanks for this vid Dogen, these are great resources.

[@Dogen]

it's my pleasure! :D

[@JVB45]

I got a childrens japanese dictionary, it has the pitch accents, really useful

[@hikari31415]

Drop the link dude!

[@headstrong1020]

This is very helpful. ありがとござました！

[@KaluxaParmo]

私もそう考えていました。

[@DANGJOS]

Thank you! The second one is one of the ones I use. Nice to know it's not always right. How wonderful haha

[@mate1658]

thanks!!! x1000, i had no idea my mac was so useful, thanks!

[@evangelines4658]

thanks so much! been looking for these sources ^^

[@Dogen]

my pleasure!

[@Maxiter]

So it's released for us too, hah! Thank you, Dogen-san. I'll check it out soon!

[@Dogen]

yes! It's my pleasure! hope that it is useful for you!

[@Maxiter]

+Dogen It was. Gonna use that webpages. Sadly, iOS dictionary is out of my reach. Do you know about any Windows alternativea that would share this options?

[@Dogen]

Yes, posting in the comment section now!

[@ardilladiabolica]

Thanks a bunch Dogen!

[@Dogen]

My pleasure!

[@arsov9885]

Thank you Dogen

[@kevinteves822]

This is just a random question, but how does sung Japanese compare to the spoken language? Is the effect similar as in singing in English where all accents seem to default to an American English pronunciation? Are the underlying pitch accent patterns even detectable in sung Japanese? And if so, do they default to a certain pattern or do they remain respective to their dialect? I'm just curious to know if you would think singing along to Japanese songs would still remain a "safe" exercise without picking up bad pronunciation/pitch-accent patterns or if pitch accent patterns are detectable underneath a melody whether it would be possible to imbibe pitch accent patterns listening to Tokyo-dialect singers.

[@Dogen]

There aren’t any rules per say, but some people write music such that the pitch will match up with words. Listening to music is definitely a great exercise! I highly recommend it!

[@aeliac]

Apparently, the way I have been pronouncing these words (just by listening to the speaker) has been correct. Is it because I am young? (I am 15) I am not sure if age has a big impact on phonetics or not.

[@Dogen]

Starting young definitely helps!

[@malikknudsenramadan6572]

For everyone who doesn't have an apple product, and still wish they could find at which mora the downstep occours, I found this dictionary (although, completely in Japanese) but I feel this is more trustworthy than a generated pitch. www.weblio.jp/

[@ChiakiNanami736]

I got a Mac for web programming but I'm glad to have another useful tool on it!

[@jaguarazul]

Awesome video. Thanks 👌👍

[@thesecretthirdthing]

Everyone I've asked about it has said pronunciation isn't that big of a deal in Japanese outside of like Ame vs aME but when there's so many resources on proper pronunciation and pitch accents I just cannot believe that. Wish I'd known about this before I started kanji lol I think I would have prioritized it. Kind of hard to practice really well from a self-study perspective tho

[@janmaier7181]

I'd like to mention this anki addon: ankiweb.net/shared/info/932119536 If you are using anki, this is quite useful and with a little bit of formatting the pitch pattern can be displayed as furigana.

[@Dogen]

Awesome, thank you very much for the plugin! ^^

[@janmaier7181]

Let's see if I can help you. First of all, if you want to use the look up tool you have to copy the word. So select the word and than press ctrl+c or right-click and press copy and use the lookup tool. That the addon doesn't find the pronounciation does also happen to me. Normaly these words are expressions, adverbs or a other form of the word. In this case you can use the normal word and it should work. For example, looking up 元気な, 元気で or 元気に won't work, but just 元気 works. So edit the word or use the look up tool on the normal word. For your last problem, the pronounication addon doesn't turn your expression field red. The red for nasal sounds will appear on the pronounciation field as a little red circle next to the nasal hiragana character. If the expression field turns red, the word is a duplicate. If you scroll down to the very bottom of the note there should be a blue text, saying "show dupblicates". If you click it, the browser will open and show you the already existing cards.

[@janmaier7181]

Yeah, this is an other form of the word. かった is the past tense of かつ (勝つ) meaning 'to win'. If possible you should use the plain form of the word and you'll normally get the pronounciation. Sometimes expressions and set phrases work with the addon, but don't expect it to happen everytime.

[@sprenzy7936]

6:45 is good and all but it doesn't tell us whether it's heiban, odaka, atamadaka, nakadaka is so even if we know the pitch accent, we don't know whether the particle attaches up or down, I guess odaka is the exception cause it's high to low

[@ぺぺろんちーの-m1y]

今度日本人向けに英語教えてくれる動画欲しい😊

[@Dogen]

とにかくドラマを見ることですね。Breaking Badがおすすめです！

[@imperialmarchinhumanbowels5726]

This is why I don't like the “low-high” model of pitch accent though, it doesn't tell whether in 日本語 it's a flat, unaccented word, or whether the final go-mora is accented, which I had to look up and to my surprise, it was actually a flat word, which I did not expect because 語 is accented on it's only mora rather than flat.

[@diegocastillo5400]

Thank you

[@bartbabbe]

The dictionary built into macOS is good, but it still can't solve the problem of not being able o look up Japanese words including pitch accent on your phone. That can only be done with digital copies of older versions of popular Japanese dictionaries like NHK accent dictionary, 新明解国語辞典 or スーパー大辞林.

[@Lenschunk]

awesome video super helpful man!

[@Dogen]

Thank you! Glad to hear that you are getting a lot out of it!

[@Lenschunk]

Yeah! I am always looking for new ways to up my skills in japanese. It's truly difficult when japanese people never correct you haha.

[@Dogen]

feel you there!

[@jimmyvanduuren5920]

My master thesis is on Japanese intonation. In the academic world people use a free software called “Praat” to analyze pitch, intensity, timing etc. I’d love to maybe chat directly to maybe share knowledge.

[@Dogen]

Sure! Can you message me on twitter? @dogen

[@timlodge3085]

Just discovered you Dogen and ngl you're the best! so fricken helpful Azzusss! What is the best dictionary for windows 11? Thx

[@louisanglionin2324]

I still don't know how to say 地図 and チーズ properly

[@holyone2]

I was wondering if you are aware of any free online websites or windows programs which provide the same functionality as the apple dictionary you showed. I.e. the pitch accent (e.g. pattern number). www.gavo.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ojad/phrasing/index is great, but maybe even for single (rare) words it might not be as reliable as a dictionary, and is a little slow. Thanks Dogen, I love all your videos.

[@Dogen]

Hi Holyoke, check out this post from another commenter, Xavier: For Windows (and linux?) users: You may have noticed the J-J dictionary used in this video is スーパー大辞林. Lucky for you, that dictionary is also available in EPWING format and is viewable through a program called qolibri, with the pitch accent numbers available just as in this video. Here is a picture of it in action with the same 先生 example as in the video, with the pitch accent indicator: i.imgur.com/ywrs72r.png Unfortunately it is not nearly as convenient as the mac version - it's not built into the OS, it doesn't have the handy dandy waveform chart, and the most common definition+reading (せんせい) is not the first result. But unless you want to do Hackintosh or buy a Macbook it's a decent alternative. Qolibri can be found at osdn.net/projects/qolibri/releases/ If you need dictionary files for it, you can get a huge pack of them here, including the aforementioned Super Daijirin: www.mediafire.com/file/887cfqo0ly3flfh/Dictionaries.torrent

[@holyone2]

Thanks for this :) Quick question: sorry if you already explained this but what does it mean if there are two numbers in the dictionary? e.g. 生物　[0][1] as in the attached screenshot When I listen to the recording on WaniKani audio it sounds like 平板 but on forvo.com/word/%E7%94%9F%E7%89%A9/#ja it sounds like 頭高 to my (untrained) ear. So is the [0][1] saying either [0] or [1] depending on dialect?

[@Dogen]

Hello! When it has two it means that there are multiple correct ways to say it, even in standard Japanese. Usually you can get away with either and still sound 100% natural!

[@holyone2]

Thanks, I've recently also discovered that the android "Jsho" has an option to enable pitch-accent numbering :)

[@LeBron652]

Thanks

[@sopitaquick4580]

thxs for sharing!

[@Dogen]

my pleasure!

[@marcpanther7924]

In the OJAD, I tried "寿司を食べます" and "sushi" was pronounced "up-down". I'm pretty sure it's the other way around, right? Help me to conclude: (1) I'm wrong. (2) This is one of the few minor mistakes in OJAD that you'll encounter, as Dogen said. (3) Either pronunciation of "sushi" is acceptable. (4) Both pronunciation is correct, but that they mean different things (but I've entered the right kanji, so I don't think this is the case).

[@mgbp7]

Marc Panther Looks like it’s option 3: either pronunciation of “sushi” is acceptable. According to the dictionaries I consulted (大辞林/Daijirin and wadoku.de), 寿司/sushi has two acceptable patterns: 頭高/atamadaka (HL: SUshi) but also 尾高/odaka (LH: suSHI]). Looks like OJAD used the odaka pattern (LH with the following particle low), which is apparently an acceptable option.

[@marcpanther7924]

@@mgbp7 ah, one of those multi-pronunciations. Thanks!

[@liambishop8966]

@dogen I know this video is 8 years old, but if you're reading this, 1)Would you say Forvo is still your favorite Audio source 2) Do you know a good Anki add-on for a native audio bulk generator for decks?

[@TAURENSRULEWOOT]

I've been using Sanseido for months and never knew what the number after the word meant. Neat, thanks! Just a shame that Rikaisama doesn't get the pitch for it's hover over lookups.

[@Dogen]

it's my pleasure! I also hope that someday rikai will implement the information!

[@xdarkangellouix]

This is super helpful, thanks so much! :D

[@WaaDoku]

The map doesn't show up on Forvo when I go to the same page. Is there a way to activate it or did they remove it? EDIT: Never mind, they just placed it below the voice recordings.

[@YSFmemories]

how good is google translate in terms of pitch accent?

[@myselfme767]

Does the Iphone have the same dictionary?

[@ZWMonkey]

Is the Apple dictionary available on a tablet as well?

[@nightfox40]

Hey I was just wondering if there is possibly a version of that chart for 関西弁 available somewhere? I live in 大阪 and really would like to properly pronounce things in the accent. Thanks!

[@Dogen]

not that I know of-if I find something I will let you know! :D

[@maelamb2740]

Damn, this is the first time I'm jealous of apple device

[@SengokuStudies]

I know this is an old video, but I just found it. So, I hope you will still see this comment, or someone that can answer it does. Are you using a Japanese mac, or do you know if the dictionary stuff is something that comes standard on Macs across the board? Thank you.

[@Dogen]

American keyboard!

[@rookyofficial]

Great Resources! Question: In Mac OS dictionary, seems that many words have 2 numbers, like しくじり has 0 and 4. Does this mean one usage of the word is 平板 and the other is 尾高? Or does it mean something else? And on this chart, the white circle is always the particle right? Thanks so much Dogen-sama, I love your vids!!!

[@Dogen]

Hi Rooky. This just means that there are multiple correct ways of saying the word. Thanks for the support!

[@victorberrjod1998]

In some cases, it means you can pronounce it either way, but it does happen that they mean different things or belong to different parts of speech, even if the writing is exactly the same.

[@ChibDibs]

Papago might also be a good tool.

[@sakuravoyage]

Question: how best to improve pitch accent when already at an intermediate Japanese level?? (I.e. I've got a good level of Jp but (ignorantly) haven't focused at all on pitch!!) Amazingly helpful videos, thank you! Had not realized my Mac had a dictionary, let alone such great hidden function woo

[@Dogen]

not a problem! I highly recommend signing up for my series on Patreon (www.patreon.com/dogen) if you're interested in improving your Japanese pitch accent. I cover everything from beginner to advanced pitch-accent in my lessons ^^ Cheers!

[@kai713]

I'm only just discovering your channel and the phonetics videos are great resources! However, for some reason, I cannot find videos #5 and #6. Are they still up? Thank you

[@Dogen]

Yes they are! However, these episodes, as well as episodes 8-65 are Patreon exclusive. If you found these videos helpful I strongly recommend signing up, you'll gain immediate access to all of these for $10. Thank you for the support!

[@kai713]

@@Dogen Thank you so much for your reply! Is that something like a monthly donation or just a one time donation with options for more? (I've never used patreon before so I'm not really sure how it works). Sorry to bother you for the information.

[@HaohmaruHL]

Just tried sensei on forvo and there are like 20 native Japanese voice clips there with each pronouncing sensei differently. Sensee, sensEI, SEnsei etc. All sound different

[@KailieCromwell]

I've only been learning Japanese for a little bit, but perhaps it may be due to different dialects? Sorry this comment is really late lol

[@danielduarte6802]

He said to listen to the audios from the user strawberrybrown 🙄

[@RyanBreaker]

Where's Phonetics #4-6?

[@Dogen]

Hello, 4-6, as well as 8-35, are located on my Patreon at patreon.com/dogen. To clarify there is a 10 dollar pay wall. Thank you for your interest, and let me know if you have any other questions!

[@solisimperium1203]

yomichan is good.

[@kingjules7604]

The more I look into Japanese pitch accent, the more confused I get O_o It seems like each word not only has its official pitch accent pattern, but also the way it's pitched when spoken naturally by a native, and the way it sounds depending on the words surrounding it. Any thoughts on this?

[@Dogen]

As long as the word is being spoken by a standard Japanese speaker it will follow the dictionary pitch accent patter 90% plus of the time. Sentences / phrases also tend to follow certain rules--I would encourage you to check out my Patreon series, which is entirely dedicated to the topic :) let me know if you have any additional questions!

[@kingjules7604]

Ah okay cool that's reassuring. And yeah I'm very tempted to jump on that patreon course XD I think one of my main confusions came from when I was discussing the pitch accent of 大学 with a Japanese friend, and they basically said that going strictly by the pitch accent pattern, whilst technically correct, sounds a bit rigid, and that she and others tend to dip off a bit at the end of the word during natural conversation

[@Dogen]

I think her advice is applicable to native speakers, but definitely not for people learning the language. I personally believe it is critical to master the basics before intentionally making any mistakes :) If you have any questions let me know :D

[@kingjules7604]

Ah okay, that makes sense!

[@NoriMori1992]

- "Let's write a comprehensive pitch accent chart entirely in Japanese, and put it in a dictionary designed for native speakers who probably don't need that information." - "Don't you think we should put an English version in the Japanese-English dictionary, for people who don't know how to read Japanese?" - "Nah, why would someone who can't read the language but clearly wants to know something about it ever need to know anything about pitch accent?"

[@Zoot101]

Now I'm sad that I left Macs behind. :(

[@Dogen]

I could never do it haha FCP user and way to used to the OSX. Come back to the club!

[@Zoot101]

Dogen I had to leave because I needed access to 3D modelling programs, most of which are PC-only, but I do miss how great Mac's support is for Japanese. Switching between writing systems is so easy, their fonts are so pretty, and now this dictionary thing...

[@Dogen]

Gotcha. Definitely get more bang for the buck with the PC--this is why I built a hackintosh haha

[@MarsellaFyngold]

WHY ISN'T THE PITCH ACCENT AVAILABLE IN THE JPN TO ENG DICTIONARY???! You'd think non-native speakers might find it a tad more useful?!? =/ wtf apple?!?!? also Q~Q WHY did it have to be APPLE?!?!?! Damnit Microsoft, get your shit together and catch up XD

[@Deckbark]

did you say free? 🤑

[@D3athW1ng]

WTF 😲 I did not know that about Dictionary on MAC ...🤦🏾‍♂️ All those years wasted ... Shoot me now.

[@N1rv4shTyp3Z3r0]

Reupload?

[@Dogen]

Yes--sorry for the complications!

[@yukito4200]

pitch accentって日本語でなんというの？

[@Dogen]

日本語のアクセント、日本語のイントネーション、など！

[@iwakamisensei8695]

「高低アクセント」と言う。

[@ZWMonkey]

I found a video of a foreigner speaking with really, really REALLY bad intonation. I'd post a link but it might actually cause you pain, so I won't.

[@davidbagley1783]

Romanji kudasai

[@Adhjie]

To add there are more for comparison eferences Wadoku And aedict3 JMBREENDICT

[@jfarrell4150]

Brilliant video and content! Than you.