Henoji intonation

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When reading aloud Japanese sentences, use tips to make Japanese sentences easier to read and convey effectively to the listener.

First, divide the sentence into several phrases considering the meaning. It is called "phrasing." The length of phrases can vary. Place a long pause after a long phrase.

Second, when you read each phrase naturally, the phrase falls gradually in pitch towards the end, forming へ(he)-shaped intonation, named Henoji intonation. This is the point.

If you read a phrase, making it Henoji intonation, your Japanese sounds more native-like.

In an interrogative sentence, since question intonation is added at the end, the final part of the phrase/sentence goes up.

Examples of Henoji intonation

Look at the example below. A is pronounced あおい "blue" and のみもの "drinks" separately. B is pronounced あおいのみもの "blue drinks" together.
The A consists of two separate phrases あおい and のみもの, so their pitch levels are almost the same. On the other hand, the B consists of one phrase, so のみもの is pronounced lower than あおい. The intonation of the B phrase looks like a ヘ (he) character; yes, it is Henoji intonation.
The B appears when you say 青い飲み物です "it's a blue drink," as an answer to the question, "What kind of drink is it?"

Listen to the audio below.

A　青い、飲み物

B　青い飲み物

Look at another example below. In response to the question このスープに豆は入っていますか。"Does this soup contain beans?" A is pronounced as one phrase このスープに豆は入っていません。"There are no beans in this soup." The intonation looks like one big へ character. B appears when pronounced as two phrases: このスープに "in this soup" and 豆は入っていません "there are no beans." There are two separate へ characters with the same pitch level.

Listen to the audio below.

A　このスープに豆は入っていません。

B　このスープに、豆は入っていません。

Look at the following examples. A is a declarative sentence (statement), and B is an interrogative sentence (question). Both intonations gradually fall towards the end of the sentence, drawing へ character. The A keeps falling until the end, but the B goes up at the end because of question intonation.

Let's listen to the audio below.

A　あした東京に行きます。

B　あした東京に行きますか。

Reading aloud

Listen to the following text and see if Henoji intonation is used.

日本に来てからもう２年以上たちました。その間に色々なところに旅行しましたが、春休みに行った奈良と宮島と長崎がいちばん思い出に残っています。田舎の人たちは、外国人が日本語を話すとびっくりします。私が日本語を話したり、味噌汁が好きだと言うと、たいていの人は「日本語がしゃべれるの？それに味噌汁も飲むの？」と聞きます。それで私が「ええ、ねぎの味噌汁と納豆が大好きです。」と答えると、みんな目を丸くします。

(The above is excerpted from さらに進んだスピーチ・プレゼンのための日本語発音練習帳 published by ひつじ書房 in 2013)

Some parts are not the same as the original text.

It's been over two years since I came to Japan. During that time, I traveled to various places, but Nara, Miyajima and Nagasaki, which I visited during spring break, are the most memorable. Rural people are surprised when foreigners speak Japanese. When I speak Japanese or say, "I like miso soup" in Japanese, most people ask, "Can you speak Japanese? And do you also drink miso soup?" Then, I answered like, "Yes, I love green onion miso soup and natto," everyone widened their eyes in surprise.