How do I read pitch accent notation (alternatively, why does my pitch notation in yomichan and OJAD disagree)?


I've installed this [Anki plugin](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1225470483)
that adds pitch accent info. The author has helpfully provided some guidelines
about the notation:

>   * Overline: Indicates "High" pitch
>   * Downfall arrow: usually means stressing the mora/syllable before.
>   * Red circle mark: Nasal pronunciation、e.g. げ would be a nasal け.
>   * Blue color: barely pronounced at all.
>

Now, I also gather from [Kanshudo](https://www.kanshudo.com/howto/pitch) that

  * 0 is _heiban_
  * 1 is _atamadaka_
  * 2 is _nakadaka_
  * 3 is _odaka_

and
[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/MassImmersionApproach/comments/iq56md/understanding_numbered_pitch_accents/)
tells me that

> 2 and later can't really be converted to nakadaka / odaka directly.
>
> The 0, 1, 3, ... syntax just explain where the last high pitch mora is.
> Naturally, 0 is converted to Heiban because it has no "last" high pitch
> mora, and that's the exact definition of Heiban. It never goes low. 1
> converts to atamadaka because it means that the last high pitch mora is the
> first mora, which is the definition of atamadaka - "head (or start) is
> high".
>
> But as for nakadaka, the definition is just "the last high pitch mora is in
> the middle of the word". It could be 3 or 5 or anything really depending on
> how long the word is. It just can't be the first or the last mora.
>
> The same goes for odaka.

Ok; now, for 中国 `yomichan` (and the Anki extension) tells me that the pitch
accent is:

ちゅ[うごく]{HHH} [0]

So it's _heiban_? Then I listen to yomichan's audio, and think "wait, there's
definitely a high-low dropoff after ちゅ".

So I go on
[OJAD](http://www.gavo.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ojad/search/index/sortprefix:accent/narabi1:kata_asc/narabi2:accent_asc/narabi3:mola_asc/yure:visible/curve:invisible/details:invisible/limit:20/word:%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD)
and [Japanese Accent Study Website](https://accent.u-biq.org/kaigai.html) and,
lo and behold:

[ちゅうごく]{HHLLL} (actually, OJAD shows it just dropping off after ゅ, but I don't
know how to markdown that)

And now I'm confused.

  0. **Do I have a bug somewhere in my setup?**

  1. **Do I not understand how Anki and`yomichan` denote pitch accent? Do the linked resources actually agree**?

    * Then, I'm asking for an explanation of how to read the accent notation used by the AJT plugin (and `yomichan`, I suppose)

Or,

  2. **Is Anki's and`yomichan`'s reading wrong (despite the audio linked)?** `yomichan` correctly identifies it as "China" (so it's the right word) and it's not some obscure vocabulary (so there have had to be other people spotting this)?

    * Then, is it correct to say that 中国 is actually _atamadaka_?




The problem you've encountered, albeit badly notated, is that the spelling and
reading 中国【ちゅうごく】 is shared by two different terms.  
_(Definitions here as according to the Daijirin dictionary.)_

  * 中国【ちゅうごく】 - _pitch pattern 0,_ 平板【へいばん】 
    * The middle of the country. The area where the imperial court was historically located. The 畿内【きない】 area.
    * The 中国地方【ちゅうごくちほう】 (Chūgoku region).
    * An old name for the 山陽道【さんようどう】 region.
    * In the old [Ritsuryō system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritsury%C5%8D), the third of four regions of Japan, as apportioned based on area and population.
  * 中国【ちゅうごく】 - _pitch pattern 1,_ 頭高【あたまだか】 
    * China

So ultimately both pitch patterns are correct -- just for different meanings.

* * *

**Note:** Broadly, I've noticed that Chinese-derived terms tend to have
頭高【あたまだか】 pitch accent patterns. For terms like 中国【ちゅうごく】 that are inherently
Chinese-derived, we see that the sense more closely tied to China still has
the 頭高 pitch, while the more Japan-specific senses now use the 平板 pitch
pattern.

* * *

### Addendum

You'd also noted:

> ちゅ[うごく]{HHH} [0]
>
> So it's _heiban_? Then I listen to yomichan's audio, and think "wait,
> there's definitely a high-low dropoff after ちゅ".

I realized that there's a possible note of confusion here that I want to
address.

In the 平板【へいばん】 pitch accent pattern, there is no downstep, which is why
dictionaries might annotate this using the number zero, indicating a lack of
downstep.

This is **not** to say that the pitch doesn't decline at all in 平板 words --
the speaker's pitch will rise after the first mora, and then gradually decline
until the next word or phrase that has another high pitch in it. _(Note: This
is for "standard" Japanese, i.e. 標準語【ひょうじゅんご】 or Tokyo-based broadcaster-
ese.)_

For words with a downstep, meanwhile, numerical dictionary notation indicates
the mora right after which the speaker's pitch drops more markedly.

Compare the following contrastive pair:

  * 変【か】える: pitch pattern 0, 平板【へいばん】: [かえる]{LHH}  
Generally speaking, the え mora will have a slightly higher pitch than the る
mora.

  * 帰【かえ】る: pitch pattern 1, 頭高【あたまだか】: [かえる]{HLL}  
Generally speaking, the か mora will have a markedly higher pitch than the え
mora.

In your term 中国【ちゅうごく】, the 平板【へいばん】 pronunciation will still show some slight
decline in pitch after the rise on the う mora, so the ご and the く will be
slightly lower. The 頭高【あたまだか】 pronunciation will show a marked decline in
pitch after the ちゅ mora, much more of a drop in pitch than you hear between
the high-pitched morae in the 平板【へいばん】 pronunciation.




The problem you've encountered, albeit badly notated, is that the spelling and
reading 中国【ちゅうごく】 is shared by two different terms.  
_(Definitions here as according to the Daijirin dictionary.)_

  * 中国【ちゅうごく】 - _pitch pattern 0,_ 平板【へいばん】 
    * The middle of the country. The area where the imperial court was historically located. The 畿内【きない】 area.
    * The 中国地方【ちゅうごくちほう】 (Chūgoku region).
    * An old name for the 山陽道【さんようどう】 region.
    * In the old [Ritsuryō system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritsury%C5%8D), the third of four regions of Japan, as apportioned based on area and population.
  * 中国【ちゅうごく】 - _pitch pattern 1,_ 頭高【あたまだか】 
    * China

So ultimately both pitch patterns are correct -- just for different meanings.

* * *

**Note:** Broadly, I've noticed that Chinese-derived terms tend to have
頭高【あたまだか】 pitch accent patterns. For terms like 中国【ちゅうごく】 that are inherently
Chinese-derived, we see that the sense more closely tied to China still has
the 頭高 pitch, while the more Japan-specific senses now use the 平板 pitch
pattern.

* * *

### Addendum

You'd also noted:

> ちゅ[うごく]{HHH} [0]
>
> So it's _heiban_? Then I listen to yomichan's audio, and think "wait,
> there's definitely a high-low dropoff after ちゅ".

I realized that there's a possible note of confusion here that I want to
address.

In the 平板【へいばん】 pitch accent pattern, there is no downstep, which is why
dictionaries might annotate this using the number zero, indicating a lack of
downstep.

This is **not** to say that the pitch doesn't decline at all in 平板 words --
the speaker's pitch will rise after the first mora, and then gradually decline
until the next word or phrase that has another high pitch in it. _(Note: This
is for "standard" Japanese, i.e. 標準語【ひょうじゅんご】 or Tokyo-based broadcaster-
ese.)_

For words with a downstep, meanwhile, numerical dictionary notation indicates
the mora right after which the speaker's pitch drops more markedly.

Compare the following contrastive pair:

  * 変【か】える: pitch pattern 0, 平板【へいばん】: [かえる]{LHH}  
Generally speaking, the え mora will have a slightly higher pitch than the る
mora.

  * 帰【かえ】る: pitch pattern 1, 頭高【あたまだか】: [かえる]{HLL}  
Generally speaking, the か mora will have a markedly higher pitch than the え
mora.

In your term 中国【ちゅうごく】, the 平板【へいばん】 pronunciation will still show some slight
decline in pitch after the rise on the う mora, so the ご and the く will be
slightly lower. The 頭高【あたまだか】 pronunciation will show a marked decline in
pitch after the ちゅ mora, much more of a drop in pitch than you hear between
the high-pitched morae in the 平板【へいばん】 pronunciation.

