This study explicitly addresses the hypothesis that pitch accents are aligned to syllables by examining the F0 shape of rising accents over similar segmental material differing in syllabic affiliation. A consistent correlate of syllabic affiliation is found in the timing of the rising F0 movement with respect to an independent segmental landmark. Our results provide phonetic evidence of resyllabification and of the role played by the syllable as an abstract unit guiding speech production.