96891
Since 菅直人さん's name did come up in the news a lot, I thought I was pretty
familiar with the pronunciation which I thought was なおと{HLL} but I seem to
have heard this name (not 菅直人さん, other 直人s) pronounced なおと{LHH} or なおと{LHL}
and I'm wondering if I misheard them. Is
[this](https://youtu.be/em66npmgOM0?t=10) なおと{LHL}?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-27T21:40:07.233
96877
2022-10-28T10:40:02.173
30454
question
names pitch-accent
Name 直人 pitch accent
No, it's definitely なおと{HLL} to me. But I have to agree with you that the
phonetic pitch peak resides in the mora お in your clip (遅下がり). It seems that
the third one's あさひ{HLL} also exhibits a similar trait in a less significant
degree (by the way, I hear the second name せいや{LHH} but this word as a name is
expected to be せいや{HLL} in Tokyo and I don't know whether it is an
articulation issue).

Nevertheless, it is still distinguishable from なおと{LHL}. The research of 遅下がり
is still immature as far as I know so the answer is quite subjective, but in
this case, true なおと{LHL} should have consistently high if not upward (and
strong) mora お, where in your video お was only high at the beginning but
dropping afterward (not intentionally in falling tone but like losing power
"ohhhh..."), which suggests that the high point is only the residue of an
accent that should have fallen on the previous mora.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-28T08:04:51.343
96891
2022-10-28T10:40:02.173
2022-10-28T10:40:02.173
7810
7810
96877
answer