イントネーション

いんとねーしょん
noun
intonation; speech melody; pitch pattern
language
1. intonation; speech melody; pitch pattern
The rise and fall of the voice when speaking, which affects meaning, emotion, and naturalness of speech.
イントネーションに気(き)をつけて話(はな)す。
To speak paying attention to intonation.
関西弁(かんさいべん)と標準語(ひょうじゅんご)ではイントネーションが違(ちが)う。
Kansai dialect and standard Japanese have different intonation.
日本語(にほんご)は単語(たんご)のイントネーションが変(か)わると意味(いみ)も変(か)わることがあるので、正(ただ)しい発音(はつおん)を身(み)につけることが大切(たいせつ)だ。
In Japanese, changing the intonation of a word can change its meaning, so learning correct pronunciation is important.

From English "intonation." In Japanese linguistics, intonation is particularly important because Japanese is a pitch-accent language. The pitch pattern of a word can distinguish meaning — for example, 橋(はし) (bridge) and 箸(はし) (chopsticks) differ only in pitch accent. Regional dialects are also distinguished largely by their intonation patterns.

Common collocations

Similar words

  • アクセント: accent — in Japanese linguistics, often refers to pitch accent on individual words, while イントネーション refers to the melody of phrases and sentences
  • 抑揚(よくよう): intonation; inflection — the native Japanese equivalent, used in more formal or literary contexts
  • 声調(せいちょう): tone — used specifically for tonal languages like Chinese

Related Words

Compare: アクセント (accent)
Compare: 抑揚(よくよう) (intonation)
Related: 発音(はつおん) (pronunciation)
Related: 訛(なま)り (accent)
Compare: 節回(ふしまわ)し (melodic style)
general
Added 2026.4.28 23:11 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
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