When looking up the definition of ちょっと in a bilingual dictionary, it is given the possible pitch accent patterns of (i) atamadaka, (ii) heiban, and (iii) odaka. So which accent to use, in which context?
Attempt using NHK: Looking the word up in the NHK 2016 pitch accent dictionary provides further clues:
Here I'm assuming ちょっとした, ちょっとみ, and ちょっとやそった are their own words/should be ignored. That leaves us with the following two options:
- ちょっと(その道で~は知られている). When ちょっと is being used before a は-particle, isn't it behaving as a noun? If so, NHK is saying that it should have the Odaka pattern:
- ちょっと(~待ってもらいたい). When ちょっと is placed directly before a verb phrase, isn't it acting as an adverb? If so, NHK is stating it can be either Atamadaka or Heiban:
Interjections? One case that doesn't get covered by NHK is when ちょと is used as an interjection. Here, I'm just assuming it's spoken in the Atamadaka pattern?
Conclusion:ちょっと is Atamadaka as an interjection, Heiban as an adverb, and Odaka when used as a noun.
Is my above reasoning correct?