Is Japanese a Tonal Language? ALTA Language Services - does not seem like a reliable / well-referenced source, but still useful Japanese is apparently a pitch-accent language Pitch-accent language - Wikipedia Pitch accent (intonation) - Wikipedia Whatâs the difference between a tonal language and a pitch accent language? Word-prosodic typology by Larry M. Hyman How (not) to do Phonological Typology The Case of Pitch-Accent by Larry M. Hyman