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Chapter 13. The inexorable spread of 〈ou〉 in Romanized Japanese

  • Timothy J. Vance
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Topics in Theoretical Asian Linguistics
This chapter is in the book Topics in Theoretical Asian Linguistics

Abstract

When the Japanese government adopted new guidelines for representing words in kana (basically moraic phonograms) in 1946, a few mismatches between spelling and modern Tokyo pronunciation remained. One was using 〈う〉 (u) as the default representation for the second half of the long vowel /oH/ (/H/ = length). In official romanization, /ou/ is 〈ou〉 and /oH/ is 〈ō〉, 〈ô〉, or 〈oo〉, but the most popular romanization for /oH/ is now 〈ou〉, partly because most computer users input Japanese text by typing romanization that matches kana spelling. This paper will propose that kana spelling, abetted by romanized input, might induce future speakers to adopt /ou/ as the underlying form in many words that, for now, still have /oH/.

Abstract

When the Japanese government adopted new guidelines for representing words in kana (basically moraic phonograms) in 1946, a few mismatches between spelling and modern Tokyo pronunciation remained. One was using 〈う〉 (u) as the default representation for the second half of the long vowel /oH/ (/H/ = length). In official romanization, /ou/ is 〈ou〉 and /oH/ is 〈ō〉, 〈ô〉, or 〈oo〉, but the most popular romanization for /oH/ is now 〈ou〉, partly because most computer users input Japanese text by typing romanization that matches kana spelling. This paper will propose that kana spelling, abetted by romanized input, might induce future speakers to adopt /ou/ as the underlying form in many words that, for now, still have /oH/.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction ix
  4. List of works by John B. Whitman xiii
  5. Part I. Syntax and morphology
  6. Chapter 1. On complement selection in Spanish and Japanese 3
  7. Chapter 2. The syntactic status of by -phrases in Korean and Japanese 23
  8. Chapter 3. Displaced modification 45
  9. Chapter 4. Some asymmetries of long distance scope assignment in Sinhala 73
  10. Chapter 5. Autosegmental evaluative morphology in Japanese 97
  11. Part II. Interfaces
  12. Chapter 6. On the distribution of the discourse particles - yo in Korean and - ne in Japanese 125
  13. Chapter 7. Wh- indefinites in East Asian languages 139
  14. Part III. Diachrony
  15. Chapter 8. Resultative and termination 157
  16. Chapter 9. Differential argument marking and object movement in Old Japanese 181
  17. Chapter 10. Possessive nominal phrases in Lamaholot 207
  18. Part IV. Psycholinguistics
  19. Chapter 11. An experimental study of children’s comprehension of lexical and productive causatives in Japanese 229
  20. Chapter 12. Parsing Chinese relative clauses with structural and non-structural cues 253
  21. Part V. Phonology
  22. Chapter 13. The inexorable spread of 〈ou〉 in Romanized Japanese 287
  23. Chapter 14. Loanword accent of Kyungsang Korean 303
  24. Chapter 15. The role of perceived similarity and contrast 331
  25. Chapter 16. The status of schwa in Indonesian 343
  26. Chapter 17. Quantitative and qualitative restrictions on the distribution of lexical tones in Thai 371
  27. Subject index 387
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.250.14van

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction ix
  4. List of works by John B. Whitman xiii
  5. Part I. Syntax and morphology
  6. Chapter 1. On complement selection in Spanish and Japanese 3
  7. Chapter 2. The syntactic status of by -phrases in Korean and Japanese 23
  8. Chapter 3. Displaced modification 45
  9. Chapter 4. Some asymmetries of long distance scope assignment in Sinhala 73
  10. Chapter 5. Autosegmental evaluative morphology in Japanese 97
  11. Part II. Interfaces
  12. Chapter 6. On the distribution of the discourse particles - yo in Korean and - ne in Japanese 125
  13. Chapter 7. Wh- indefinites in East Asian languages 139
  14. Part III. Diachrony
  15. Chapter 8. Resultative and termination 157
  16. Chapter 9. Differential argument marking and object movement in Old Japanese 181
  17. Chapter 10. Possessive nominal phrases in Lamaholot 207
  18. Part IV. Psycholinguistics
  19. Chapter 11. An experimental study of children’s comprehension of lexical and productive causatives in Japanese 229
  20. Chapter 12. Parsing Chinese relative clauses with structural and non-structural cues 253
  21. Part V. Phonology
  22. Chapter 13. The inexorable spread of 〈ou〉 in Romanized Japanese 287
  23. Chapter 14. Loanword accent of Kyungsang Korean 303
  24. Chapter 15. The role of perceived similarity and contrast 331
  25. Chapter 16. The status of schwa in Indonesian 343
  26. Chapter 17. Quantitative and qualitative restrictions on the distribution of lexical tones in Thai 371
  27. Subject index 387
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