頭高型

頭高型

Japanese

Kanji in this term
頭	高	型
あたま Grade: 2	たか > だか Grade: 2	かた > がた Grade: 5
kun’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 頭 (atama, “head; start”) +‎ 高 (taka, “high”) +‎ 型 (kata, “form”), in reference to the first mora of the word (the "head") having the highest pitch.[1]The taka changes to daka as an instance of rendaku (連濁), and similarly the kata changes to gata as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あたまだかがた [àtámádákágátá] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [a̠ta̠ma̠da̠ka̠ɡa̠ta̠]

Noun

頭(あたま)高(だか)型(がた) • (atamadakagata) 

1. a pitch accent pattern in Japanese where the first mora is high, followed by an immediate downstep: the first syllable has high pitch and all subsequent syllables have low pitch

   Examples:

   • 会(あ)う (au, “to meet”)
   • 勘(かん)弁(べん) (kanben, “pardon, apology”)
   • ホッチキス (hotchikisu, “stapler”)

See also

• 平板型(へいばんがた) (heiban-gata)
• 中高型(なかだかがた) (nakadakagata)
• 尾(お)高型(だかがた) (odakagata)

References

1. “頭高型”, in デジタル大辞泉 (Dejitaru Daijisen)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months