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Curious if there are any general rules for the pitch accent for pluralized たち nouns.

For example:

  • 子供達 - the pattern seems to be こどもたち{LHHLL}
  • 私たち - the pattern seems to be わたしたち{LHHLL}
  • 自分たち - the pattern seems to be じぶんたち{LHLLL}
  • 人間たち - the pattern seems to not drop at all にんげんたち{LHHHHH}
  • 動物たち - the pattern seems to be どうぶつたち{LHHHLL}

Other words seem to fall on たち{HL}, rather than the noun itself.

I'm not certain if there's a clear pattern. But just in case, any general rules or tips on how pitch might work for たちed nouns?

Earthliŋ
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Ontic
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    How did you come up with the pitch accent for your examples? Also, what "other words" with たち do you have in mind? – Earthliŋ Apr 25 '20 at 19:51
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    I used a combination of http://www.gavo.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ojad/phrasing/index and a pitch accent dictionary. As for other words where the pitch drops on た in たち, while I'm not recalling a specific example at the moment, I'm relatively confident I've heard this pattern before (could be wrong though). If one comes up, I'll post it here. – Ontic Apr 25 '20 at 20:03
  • Native speakers, don't matter dialects, say た always is higher than ち or flat, only the exception ち is louder and higher at the end with question. –  Apr 25 '20 at 22:25
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    [にんげんたち]{LHHHHH} is incorrect..... – chocolate Apr 26 '20 at 02:16
  • @Chocolate - these pitch accent resources are somewhat imperfect. What would it be then? にんげんたち{LHHHHL} like Sadaharu Wakisaka suggested? – Ontic Apr 26 '20 at 16:33
  • @Ontic, I'd like to ask you the pitch accent you refer is like Chinese 四声 or Spanish/Italian melody of the word? Likewise the word 'adult' and 'worldcup' in AmE and BrE are very different. A few years ago Japanese broadcast accent manual updated various accents allowed more than before and I heard very strange accents for a half of year, but now I don't hear anymore. NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典2016 and 1998 www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4140113456 www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4140111127 (I am not intend to sell these product, but here these are what you need.) They put the old one back imho. Listen to YouTube you get it. –  Apr 26 '20 at 22:47
  • @Ontic [にんげんたち]{LHHHLL}って言います。 – chocolate Apr 27 '20 at 01:39

1 Answers1

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The plural suffix ～～[達]{たち} is pronounced [たち]{LL}, as in:

[わたし]{LHH} → [わたしたち]{LHHLL}

[あなた]{LHL} → [あなたたち]{LHLLL}

[きみ]{LH} → [きみたち]{LHLL}

[こども]{LHH} → [こどもたち]{LHHLL}

[どうぶつ]{LHHH} → [どうぶつたち]{LHHHLL}

[ねこ]{HL} → [ねこたち]{HLLL}

[いぬ]{LH} → [いぬたち]{LHLL}

[せいと]{HLL} (生徒) → [せいとたち]{HLLLL}

[かんごし]{LHHL} (看護師) → [かんごしたち]{LHHLLL}

chocolate
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