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I am currently studying 日本語 and I am trying to understand the pronunciation difference between 桃 (peach) and 腿 (thigh). Both can be written as もも in kana and sound practically the same to me when my tutor pronounces them to me, but she tells me that there is a difference in terms of the pronunciation, though I can't figure out what it is and thus how to say them properly.

So what is the difference in pronunciation? Is it stress? Accent? And how do I pronounce them so that a 日本人 can tell which one of them it is that I mean?

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The difference is in the pitch accent.

桃 (peach)：「もも{LH}」 (Low-High)

腿 (thigh)：「もも{HL}」 (High-Low)

That is a huge difference to us native speakers because it changes the meanings of the words completely.

If there is a musical instrument around you, try doing the following.

Hit 'do-mi' as you say 「桃」 and hit 'mi-do' as you try to say 「腿」.

Other examples from simple everyday words:

Low-High　「〇〇{LH}」: 「飴{あめ}」= hard candy,「橋{はし}」= bridge,「居間{いま}」= living room

High-Low 「〇〇{HL}」:「雨{あめ}」= rain,「箸{はし}」= chopsticks,「今{いま}」= now

(Finally, even at the risk of confusing some, I might mention for the advanced learners that the (feminine) given name 「桃/もも/モモ」 is pronounced the same way as 「腿」 --- 「もも{HL}」, that is. This is an exception but it is a fact, so I had to say it.

Same thing with 「雪{ゆき}」. To mean "snow", it is pronounced 「ゆき{LH}」, but for a personal name, it is 「ゆき{HL}」.)

Note: All pronunciations above are naturally based on Standard Japanese.

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  • There's also the distinction between low-high + gradually falling, and low-high + immediate downstep: 端が is はしが{LHH} with pitch pattern 0 (no downstep), whereas 橋が is はしが{LHL} with pitch pattern 2 (downstep after second mora). I'm curious -- when pronounced in isolation (without particles), is there any perceivable difference between patterns 0 and 2?
    – Eiríkr Útlendi
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 17:41
  • @l'électeur You bring up an interesting point about pitch-accent and names. This is an area I find especially difficult because there are no authoritative resources I can find to help study this. For standard items of vocabulary, a pitch-accent dictionary can tell you all you need to know, making it easy to incorporate that information into your studies. But for names, there is no such equivalent. I am currently in the process of learning around 3000 first names/last names, but the lack of pitch-accent information is disheartening.
    – kandyman
    Commented Feb 18, 2019 at 18:04

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