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. 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”)
   • かんべん (kanben, “pardon, apology”) (usually written in kanji: 勘弁)
   • 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)