pitch accent

noun

Any of a variety of restricted tone systems that use variations in pitch to give prominence to a syllable or mora within a word. The placement of this tone or the way it is realized can give different meanings to otherwise similar words.

Similar
tonic accent
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Meanings

nounpitch accent (plural pitch accents)

plural pitch accents

  1. human sciencesAny of a variety of restricted tone systems that use variations in pitch to give prominence to a syllable or mora within a word. The placement of this tone or the way it is realized can give different meanings to otherwise similar words.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounemphasis that results from pitch rather than loudness

Similar
tonic accent
Broader
stressemphasisaccent
Also see
tonic accent

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Catalan accent musical
  • accent musicalphonology
Chinese Mandarin 音高重音, 高低調 /高低调
  • 音高重音 (yīngāo zhòngyīn)phonology
  • 高低調 /高低调 (gāodīdiào)phonology
Finnish sävelaksentti
  • sävelaksenttiphonology
French accent de hauteur, accent tonal
  • accent de hauteurphonology
  • accent tonalphonology
German Tonakzent
  • Tonakzentphonology
Japanese 高低アクセント, 高さアクセント
  • 高低アクセント (kōtei akusento)phonology
  • 高さアクセント (takasa akusento)phonology
  • 音声高さアクセント (onjō takasa akusento, onsei takasa akusento)phonology
  • ピッチアクセント (pitchi-akusento)phonology
Korean 고저(高低) 악센트
  • 고저(高低) 악센트 (gojeo aksenteu)phonology
Norwegian Bokmål tonelag
  • tonelagphonology
Polish akcent toniczny
  • akcent tonicznyphonology
Portuguese acento tonal, acento musical
  • acento tonalphonology
  • acento musicalphonology
  • acento de alturaphonology
Russian тональное ударе́ние, тоническое ударе́ние
  • тональное ударе́ние (tonalʹnoje udarénije)phonology
  • тоническое ударе́ние (toničeskoje udarénije)phonology
  • тоновое ударе́ние (tonovoje udarénije)phonology
Spanish acentuación tonal / tónica, acento musical
  • acentuación tonal / tónicaphonology
  • acento musicalphonology
Swedish ordaccent, tonaccent
  • ordaccentphonology
  • tonaccentphonology
  • musikalisk accentphonology
Vietnamese trọng âm âm vực
  • trọng âm âm vựcphonology
Cite this entry
APA

pitch accent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pitch%20accent

MLA

“pitch accent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pitch%20accent. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pitch accent,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pitch%20accent.

Source: pitch accent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.