Is it me or Kyoko and Kenichi seemed to intonate the word differently? Kyoko seems to start low and end high, and Kenichi goes from high to low which also matches dictionary.
I’m not yet 100% confident with the intonation in Japanese so maybe I’m mishearing it. Sorry!
I hear the same thing. For what it’s worth my copy of the ＮＨＫ日本語発音アクセント only lists a falling pitch like Kenichi does.
釜 and 窯 have a different pitch apparently though, so maybe that’s why Kyoko was confused. Or maybe it’s one of the many situations where there are variations for all sorts of reasons.
I’ve always thought the difference comes from how men and women speak the language. For example, the word for “to hurry”, when Kyoko says it you can hear the “GU” sound and when Kenichi says it the “G” is almost silent like how you pronounce nasally; kinda like the “NG” sound.
Based on experience speaking with natives, I have heard both ways of pronouncing words. Also, I have heard both ways when using the Pimsleur Japanese audio recordings.
I’d guess the version that’s not in the dictionary is a regional accent. If you search youtube, it seems both pronunciations come up. But then again I’ve never had a chance to talk to anyone about scythes.
I don’t think men and women have any pitch differences for standalone words. Only on sentence scale, e.g. わ particle at the end.