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(I am talking about もの as a standalone noun outside of compounds. The kind of もの used after the 連用形 form of verbs (忘れ物 etc.) is usually 平板型 (though there are many exceptions))

I feel like 尾高型 is in a way the "default" pitch of もの but I do come across the 平板型 pronounciation as well. I haven't been able to make any inferences as to which pronunciation is used in which environment.

I tried to consult the (electronic) NHK accent dictionary and it just gave me two rather cryptic examples: 物(〜がよい) where it is 平板型; 物(〜をもらう) where it is 尾高型. So I guess the succeeding particle is what makes the difference? What about the other particles?

dekinai
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2 Answers2

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Note: I will be using superscripts to distinguish 平板1 and 尾高2

The もの1 in 物が良い means quality (of the thing being talked about). Practically you can think this is a (group of) set phrase(s). So もの1 is always followed by が/は+よい/悪い(/some variants of them). As such this もの1 is never modified by other phrases. For examples, よいもの2 or もらったもの2 is always もの2.

In terms of particles, as can be understood from above, it is not what makes the difference, but you can mostly assume もの2 if it is followed by something other than が/は. If が/は follows もの, you have to consider other factors.

For learners, I think remembering もの1 が/は+よい/わるい is good enough approximation. E.g., これはものがよい=This product is of good quality.

sundowner
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  • Could we go as far as to say that もの is 平板 if and only if it means "quality" (商品や製品の質。), no matter the syntactic environment? This would make it a purely semantic distinction which seems more palpable to me. – dekinai Jun 14 '23 at 08:08
  • @dekinai The difference is semantic, but it is not that you can use the quality sense in any construction. For example, it is not really common to say もの(平板)をよくする to mean to improve the quality though this may be understood. In this sense, the quality sense of もの only appears in restricted constructions. – sundowner Jun 14 '23 at 10:17
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It’s basically 尾高.

When the particle の follows it, it tends to remain high, but that’s because ものの[N] is pronounced in one go, with the accent pattern determined by the final noun, like もののねだん【LHHHHH】, もののかち【LHHHL】, etc. This phenomenon is not limited to もの.

The もの in ものがよい【LHHHL】 has a special meaning. When pronounced that way, it is understood as referring to the quality of something. ものがちがう【LHHHHH】 is similar and it means that something is in a different class from others (i.e. much superior to them).

ものになる【LHHHL】 is also pronounced in 平板. This expression is used to say something comes to fruition, to become “something” worthy of mention.

aguijonazo
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