Pronunciation and Accent - Saga Public High School Entrance Examination
What the pronunciation items test
This section checks basic sound-spelling relationships, syllable count, word stress, sentence stress, intonation, and common minimal pairs. It is not a test of native-like accent. It tests whether you can identify standard contrasts and stress patterns that affect meaning.
Core rules
- Count syllables from the spoken or dictionary form, not from Japanese katakana.
- Learn stress shifts in word families: PHO-to-graph, pho-TOG-ra-pher, pho-to-GRAPH-ic.
- Stress content words such as nouns and verbs; weaken function words such as 'a', 'of', and 'to' in normal speech.
- Use rising intonation for yes/no questions and falling intonation for wh-questions in neutral speech.
- Watch final consonants and clusters: 'desk' is not 'desuku', and 'asked' has a final cluster.
Worked example
Question: Which syllable is stressed in 'important'? Answer: the second syllable, im-POR-tant. Reasoning: the word has three syllables, and the middle syllable carries the main stress. The first syllable is weak, and the last is also weak. A common error is to give equal stress to all three syllables or to follow the Japanese loanword rhythm. Hearing the weak-strong-weak pattern is the key.
Traps
- Pronouncing English as spelled: 'knife' with /k/ or 'island' with /s/.
- Adding a vowel between consonants: 'strike' as su-to-ra-i-ku.
- Flat intonation that makes a question sound like a statement.
- Stressing every word equally.
- Confusing /l/ and /r/, /θ/ and /s/, or /æ/ and /ʌ/.
Exam habit
When you learn a new word, record its syllable count and stress pattern together. Say it aloud with a weak syllable, not with equal beats.