pitch accent

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noun

(in languages such as Ancient Greek or modern Swedish) an accent in which emphatic syllables are pronounced on a higher musical pitch relative to other syllablesAlso called: tonic accent

QUIZ

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Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

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Words nearby pitch accent

pit boss, pit bull, pit bull terrier, Pitcairn Island, pitch, pitch accent, pitch-and-putt, pitch-and-run shot, pitch-and-toss, pitchbend, pitch-black

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use pitch accent in a sentence

But the people from Valley Stream had such a thick New York accent that was all around me.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I struck up a conversation with a man in his fifties or sixties who had a Brooklyn accent.
I Ate Potato Pancakes Til I Plotzed|Emily Shire|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He seems miffed that Liv Ullmann would go off and do a musical when he was thinking of putting her, accent and all, in his movie.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Of course, in her Neverland they bleach your teeth so white they glow and Madonna coaches you on your convincing British accent.
‘Peter Pan Live!’ Review: No Amount of Clapping Brings It to Life|Kevin Fallon|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST

On it a young beardless man speaks Chechen and Arabic with a soft accent.
Fierce Fighting in Grozny Raises Specter of ISIS Influence in Russia|Anna Nemtsova|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Practise gliding in the form of inflection, or slide, from one extreme of pitch to another.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
What the ear hears is the fundamental pitch only; the overtones harmonize with the primary or fundamental tone, and enrich it.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
It will be remembered that pitch depends upon the rapidity of the sound waves or vibrations.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
And all over the world each language would be taught with the same accent and quantities and idioms—a very desirable thing indeed.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The medium pitch expresses warmth, emotion, and the heart qualities.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick