Editing Japanese pitch accent (section)

===Initial lowering===
The tone of the first mora in non-initial-accented (non-''atamadaka'') is subject to what is known as "initial dissimilation" or "initial lowering"{{sfnp|Labrune|2012|p=154}}<ref name=handbook>{{cite book|title=The Handbook of Japanese Linguistics|date=2002|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell}}</ref> which is sometimes overridden depending the type of the second mora:{{sfnp|Labrune|2012|p=154}}
*(1) If the second mora is /N/ or the lengthening half of a long vowel, the tone of the first mora is "high", and there may or may not be initial lowering.
*(2) If the second mora is /Q/, the tone of the first mora is "low", and there is initial lowering, but the tone of the second mora is also "low."
*(3) If the second mora is any other type of mora, the tone of the first mora is "low", and there is initial lowering.
In the (1) circumstances, initial lowering does not naturally happen in connected speech, but it can still be artificially induced with the slow, deliberate enunciation of whatever word is of concern.<ref name=handbook /> Despite this, most educational material only considers the option with initial lowering and ignores the option without.<ref name=vance>{{cite book|title=The Sounds of Japanese|last=Vance|first=Timothy J.|year=2008|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-5216-1754-3}}</ref>

The following are illustrative examples of the indefinite pitch of the first mora. For monomoraic non-initial-accented words, the second mora is whatever particle that follows it.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:1em auto 1em auto"
! Word
! Kana spelling
! Phonemic transcription
!Type of the second mora
! (1)
! (2)
! (3)
! Initial-accented
|-
|漫画 (''[[manga]]'')
|まんが
|/maNɡa/
|/N/
|L-H-H or H-H-H
|colspan=3|
|-
|交番 (''[[kōban]]'')
|こうばん
|/koRban/
|rowspan=2|/R/
|L-H-H-H or H-H-H-H
|colspan=3|
|-
|フォークリフト (''fōkurifuto'' "forklift")
|フォークリフト
|/ɸoRkuriɸuto/
|L-H-H-HꜜL-L or H-H-H-HꜜL-L
|colspan=3|
|-
|切腹 (''[[seppuku]]'')
|せっぷく
|/seQpuku/
|/Q/
|
|L-L-H-H
|colspan=2|
|-
|愛人 (''aijin'' "lover")
|あいじん
|/aJzin/
|/J/
|colspan=2|
|L-H-H-H
|
|-
|アメリカ (''Amerika'' "America")
|アメリカ
|/amerika/
|rowspan=3|free mora
|colspan=2|
|L-H-H-H
|
|-
|黄は (''ki-wa'' "yellow")
|きは
|/kiwa/
|colspan=2|
|L-H
|HꜜL
|-
|気が (''ke-ga'' "sign; indication")
|けが
|/keɡa/
|colspan=2|
|L-H
|HꜜL
|}