original_query: What is a pitch-accent language?
query: What is a pitch-accent language?
answer: A pitch-accent language is one in which the prominence of a syllable within a word is indicated by changes in pitch, rather than loudness (as in stress-accent languages) or independent tones on each syllable (as in tonal languages).  Many languages exhibit characteristics of pitch-accent languages to varying degrees, and the exact definition is debated among linguists.