Pitch Artist user guide

Pitch Artist is a tool for creating SVG pitch accent graphs from a compact text notation. The graphs can be saved as SVG files and inserted into Anki notes. The tool can be used from the Anki dialog for preview/export, or as an output format when generating card fields.

Pitch Artist does not tell you what accent is correct. It only gives you a canvas and a brush. It's up to you to draw correct pitch graphs.

Quick start

Pitch Artist comes with AJT Japanese. Install AJT Japanese to use it.

Open the dialog from the Anki menu bar: "AJT" > "Pitch Graph Artist..." Type a word, a semicolon, and a pitch specification:

せいかつ;0
ねこ;1
いぬ;2
せんせい;3
ひらめ;0
みず;0
じんせい;1
たべもの;2
たべもの;3
おとこのこ;3

Press Ctrl+Enter or click "Update" to refresh the preview.

Pitch numbers use the common Tokyo pitch notation. Here n means the number of morae in the word.

Changing any setting updates the preview immediately. The preview uses a cloned config, so temporary dialog changes affect rendering without rewriting the global SVG graph settings. To change settings permanently, go to "AJT" > "Japanese options..." > "SVG graphs".

Buttons and shortcuts

"Copy HTML to Clipboard" copies the generated SVG strings joined by the configured graph separator.

Each previewed graph has a Save button. Click it, choose a filename, and the graph is written as an SVG file. If Inject CSS into SVG markup is enabled, Pitch Artist embeds the pitch graph CSS directly into the saved SVG so that it displays correctly as a standalone file.

Syntax overview

Words are separated by spaces, like in English. Sentences are separated by dots. Pitch Artist parses text in this order:

1. Line breaks become sentence breaks.
2. HTML tags are stripped.
3. Text is split into sentences on dots (.), Japanese sentence punctuation (。!?！？), and newlines.
4. Each sentence is split into sections on whitespace, tabs, and full-width spaces.

きょう;1 は | てんき;1 が ; いい;1 です
ぼく;1 は;p せんせい;3 を して;0 います;2
わたし; は;p にほんご; を べんきょう; して; います;k2

Word format

Each normal section has this shape:

word;accent

Write a word, then a semicolon, then the pitch number. The semicolon may be ; or full-width ；.

Examples:

にほんご;0
せいかつ;0
ともだち;0
ねこ;1
いぬ;2
せんせい;3

If a word has no separator at all, it is treated as a particle and drawn with gray, unfilled circles.

は
を
まで

If a word has a separator but no accent, it defaults to heiban:

がっこう;

Tokyo accent specifications

The Tokyo accent syntax supports:

[p][role][pitch]

Every word has two properties: pitch number and role. If you do not specify role or pitch, it will be guessed. All parts are optional, but they must appear in that order.

The parser accepts one digit for the pitch number.

Role typically controls what classname will be attached to the word. Class names are used for styling in CSS. If you write たんご;h, it will receive the "heiban" class name, which you can then style using CSS if you want. The CSS rules that get injected by default cover most people's needs. Special rules can be specified in your note type's CSS section. Additionally, words with the "empty" role are hidden completely. ひみつ;e won't be rendered.

Role letters

Pitch pattern names:

Extra roles:

Examples:

にほんご;0
にほんご;h
かんがえた;k2
ぐらい;pa
ぐらい;po1

If there is no explicit role, Pitch Artist guesses a role from the pitch number:

The role letter takes priority for coloring, while the pitch number determines the actual pattern.

にほんご;h2

Here the role letter h (heiban) is combined with pitch number 2.

Special pitch numbers

-1 means "always low". -2 means "always high".

あいうえお;h-1
あいうえお;h-2

Furigana and readings

Use square brackets to provide readings for kanji:

漢字[かんじ];0
稼[かせ]いで;k2
大物[おおもの];0

Pitch Artist extracts the reading from bracket notation before splitting into morae. For simplicity, it is recommended to write everything in kana:

がっこう;0
つくった;2

Particles

A bare word without ; is rendered as a particle-style section. When a word is a particle, the circles above kana have holes in them.

は
を
まで

To mark a word as a particle, add ;p after it:

か;p

Particles receive contextual pitch:

The "particle" role can coexist with other roles. Use p in the accent spec when you want a section styled as a particle while still giving it a role. If you write が;pn, for example, it will receive class names particle nakadaka.

よねん;0 ぐらい;pa
よねん;0 ぐらい;po1

The word ぐらい is marked as a particle in both lines. The first uses pa (particle + atamadaka), the second uses po1 (particle + odaka, pitch 1). Particles are drawn with colored but unfilled circles. These produce compound CSS classes such as particle atamadaka and particle odaka.

When a single-mora particle is は or ハ, it is displayed as わ or ワ:

は;p
ハ;p

Connections and breaks

Words can be "welded" (connected), "taped" (connected with a dotted line), or separated (no visual connection).

By default, adjacent visible sections in a sentence are connected with a solid line:

がっこう;1 つくった;2

Use |, ,, or 、 as a standalone section to break the contour and prevent a connector:

じんせい;1 | まで;p
つかう;0 , つかった;0

To tape words (connect with a dotted line instead of solid), use a bare semicolon as a separator:

大物[おおもの];0 ; まで;p

The ; between the two words creates a dotted connector line.

Summary:

Ghost particle

You can use - at the end of a sentence to add one trailing empty circle. Pitch Artist detaches a trailing - into its own ghost section:

じんせい;1-
せいかつ;0-
おとうと;4-

The ghost particle draws a circle but no text label. The pitch of the trailing empty circle changes depending on the preceding word's accent.

This is useful for showing where a following particle would attach.

Devoiced morae

Prefix a mora with lowercase d to mark it as devoiced:

わたdくし;0

The d marker is removed from displayed text. Devoiced morae are drawn with a dashed circle or rounded rectangle, and the text receives the devoiced class.

For multi-word examples:

dひとり;2 で dくすり;0 を のんだ;1

Here ひ and く are explicitly marked as devoiced because each mora is prefixed with d in the input.

Multiple pitch notations

Separate multiple pitch numbers with a comma to generate multiple graphs from the same word. Only the first section in a sentence is expanded when its accent contains comma-separated alternatives:

にほんご;1,2,3

This produces three graph sequences:

にほんご;1
にほんご;2
にほんご;3

If more sections follow, they are copied into every expanded sequence:

にほんご;1,2,3 を べんきょう; する;

Keihan dialect

For Kansai-style (京阪) pitch patterns, specify the role as an uppercase letter and the high/low levels explicitly.

word;Role;levels

levels is an explicit sequence of h (high) and l (low). If the level string is shorter than the number of morae, the last level repeats.

Low-start words may rise differently depending on region, so adjust the explicit h/l sequence if you are targeting a specific local variety.

Colored text output

Pitch Artist also supports a colored-text output mode for card generation. Instead of SVG, it returns spans based on the parsed section roles:

<span class="heiban">がっこう</span><span class="atamadaka">まで</span>

Hidden sections such as |, the ghost particle -, and the bare tape ; are omitted from colored text output. Multiple parsed sentences are joined with the configured pitch_artist.separator_sentences value.

SVG output for card generation

You can type Pitch Artist syntax into one Anki field and generate SVGs into another field. To do so, go to "AJT" > "Japanese options..." > "Pitch accent", and create a new Profile with "Output format" set to "Artist SVG" or "Artist colors".

When the output format is artist_svg, generated graphs are joined with the configured pitch_artist.separator_expression_graphs value. When the output format is artist_colors, colored text sentences are joined with the configured pitch_artist.separator_sentences value.

Input text is stripped through Anki's media/text handling before parsing. Empty input returns an empty string.

CSS classes

Pitch Artist uses CSS classes to style both SVG graphs and colored text.

Tokyo roles:

heiban
atamadaka
nakadaka
odaka
kifuku
black
white
setsubigo
empty
particle

Keihan roles:

keihan_heiban
keihan_atamadaka
keihan_nakadaka
keihan_low_heiban
keihan_low_nakadaka
keihan_low_odaka
keihan_kifuku

Particle-role combinations produce multiple classes:

particle atamadaka
particle odaka

Devoiced text and devoiced markers use the devoiced class.

Generated SVG uses these group classes:

Examples

Basic accent types

The word はし has three meanings, each with a different pitch pattern. This is the most famous example in Japanese pitch accent education.

Particle attachment

The pitch of the following particle changes depending on the preceding word's accent. This is the key difference between 橋 and 箸.

はし;0 を
はし;1 を
はし;2 を

Bare を is a particle-style section. Its displayed pitch depends on whether the previous word ended low. After heiban words, the following particle stays high. After atamadaka or odaka words, it is low.

Tape connector with furigana

大物[おおもの];0 ; まで;p

The standalone ; creates a dotted connector between the two words.

Disconnected words

To disconnect words, insert a pipe (|), or a comma (, or 、).

つかう; , つかった;-

Two words separated by a comma (,). The comma creates a gap in the connecting line between the two words. The second word has a ghost particle (-), drawing a trailing empty circle.

じんせい;1 | まで;p

The graph shows two separate, unconnected pitch patterns.

Tape + role letter

じんせい;1 ; まで;a-1

Three features combined: tape connector (;), role letter for atamadaka (a), and always low pitch (-1).

Mixed sentence

あんがい;。きょう;1 は | じんせい;1 に ついて かんがえた;k3 よ

This demonstrates sentence punctuation, explicit pitch accents, bare particle-style words, and a role letter with pitch number.

Multiple alternatives

にほんご;1,2,3 を べんきょう;0 する;

This generates three graph sequences for the first word's three alternatives, with the rest of the sentence copied into each sequence.

Regular sentences

ねこ;1 と いぬ;2 が dすき;2 です

猫と犬が好きです。 ("I like cats and dogs.")

ねこ (猫) is atamadaka, いぬ (犬) is odaka, すき (好き) is odaka with a devoiced す. The connecting line between each word shows how pitch transitions.

きょう;1 は てんき;1 が いい;1 です

今日は天気がいいです。 ("The weather is nice today.")

きょう (今日) and てんき (天気) are both atamadaka. いい is also atamadaka. The particles は, が, and です are drawn as particles (gray, unfilled).

にほんご;0 の べんきょう;0 を して;0 います;2

日本語の勉強をしています。 ("I am studying Japanese.")

Both にほんご (日本語) and べんきょう (勉強) are heiban. After a heiban word, the following particle stays high. ます drops after ま.

でんわ;0 を かける;k2

電話をかける。 ("To make a phone call.")

でんわ (電話) is heiban. After it, the particle を stays high. かける is marked as kifuku.

わたし;0 は だいがく;0 の せんせい;3 です

私は大学の先生です。 ("I am a university teacher.")

わたし (私), だいがく (大学) are heiban. せんせい (先生) is nakadaka.

くるま;0 が すき;2 です か

車が好きですか。 ("Do you like cars?")

くるま (車) is heiban, すき (好き) is odaka. が after the heiban word stays high. です follows the odaka word and drops low.

Syntax reference

Accent specs

If the accent part is omitted, the word is treated as a particle.

Special symbols

Pitch number mapping

Keihan dialect format

Level letters: h = high, l = low. If the levels string is shorter than the number of morae, the last level repeats.