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I am not sure what the accent of なんの意味もない would become.

I would guess it would be な\んの・い\みも・な\い. Because なんの is な\んの by itself (see comments for this particular audio).

  • In this audio, I think it becomes なんの￣・い\みも・な\い.
  • In this audio, I think it becomes なんの￣・い\みも・な\い
  • This sounds different, but I would still interpret it as なんの￣・い\みも・な\い

Does this happen or am I mishearing those?

firuvi
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  • BTW, we have input notation for indicating pitch. [See this topic](https://japanese.meta.stackexchange.com/a/1152/78) for how to use it, and other notations like furigana. – istrasci Jun 08 '22 at 17:08
  • @istrasci HL notation is inferior to downstep notation in a number of ways. It’s a reasonable choice to not use it. – Darius Jahandarie Jun 08 '22 at 17:31
  • Isn't the Forvo clip なんの{LHH}? – Eddie Kal Jun 08 '22 at 19:42
  • @DariusJahandarie: That's fine, just pointing them to it. And users that have been here for a while probably recognize our HL notation, and may not understand downstep notation. – istrasci Jun 08 '22 at 19:58
  • @EddieKal I dont think so, would be glad if someone could correct me though. I think I hear a drop from な to ん though. Maybe pronounces の like that for pronunciation’s sake. – firuvi Jun 08 '22 at 21:08
  • This is where I fear I might be getting things terribly wrong. I listened to it again, and it doesn't sound like either. I get that there could be a drop as you describe, but the final の doesn't sound like in a lower position than な. Anyways I thought your question was very helpful, at least to me, so +1 – Eddie Kal Jun 08 '22 at 21:12
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    I agree with Eddie Kal, it's pronounced heiban. In a sentence, this intonation would correspond to something like なんの意味もない. – Monchi Jun 09 '22 at 03:07
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    Heiban words with a ん in the second mora or a long vowel in the first syllable don't have the first mora lower like other heiban words do, so that makes it harder to identify them sometimes. So it would technically be なんの {HHH} – Monchi Jun 09 '22 at 03:11
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    @EddieKal - The pronunciation in the Forvo clip is not very good. It’s shaky. It goes slightly up on ん, which itself is good, but goes back down on の. It sounds almost like なんの{LHL} although he must have intended なんの{LHH}. The first Vocaroo clip sounds like Kansai-ben where she says なんのいみも{LLLHLL} before she switches to standard pronunciation in ない{HL}. – aguijonazo Jun 09 '22 at 05:44

2 Answers2

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なんの is pronounced as なんの【HLL】 when it means "of what", but as なんの【LHH】 when it's used as a negative polarity item meaning "no(thing)".

  • なんの【HLL】話ですか？
    What are you talking about?
  • なんの【LHH】役にも立たない本
    a completely useless book

Similarly, だれの/どこの can be read as だれの【LHH】/どこの【LHH】 when it's a negative polarity item.

  • だれの【HLL】帽子？
    Whose hat is this?
  • だれの【LHH】せいでもない。
    だれの【HLL】せいでもない。
    This is no one's fault.
  • どこの【LHH】国のものでもない不思議な言葉
    どこの【HLL】国のものでもない不思議な言葉
    a mysterious word used in no country
naruto
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Question words that pair with a negative such as 何もない、誰もいなかった and such as your example become heiban (flat, no accent).

Monchi
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