John Benjamins Publishing Company
Rendaku in Tōhoku Japanese
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Abstract
Rendaku in many Tōhoku dialects is manifested in the form of prenasalized voicing, and this paper provides a case study of rendaku in the dialect of Kahoku-chō, Yamagata Prefecture. After describing prenasalized voicing and its relationship to rendaku, the paper reports the results of a study conducted in 2012 on speakers of the Kahoku dialect. Prenasalization did not occur at all uniformly in the productions of the survey participants; there was considerable variation, both between speakers and between target words. Also, while sex and socio-economic group were not predictors, age was, with the oldest participant having the highest prenasalization rate. Given the complex social and historical situation regarding dialect use in Japan, the Kahoku dialect has undoubtedly been altered lexically, morphologically, and phonologically.
Abstract
Rendaku in many Tōhoku dialects is manifested in the form of prenasalized voicing, and this paper provides a case study of rendaku in the dialect of Kahoku-chō, Yamagata Prefecture. After describing prenasalized voicing and its relationship to rendaku, the paper reports the results of a study conducted in 2012 on speakers of the Kahoku dialect. Prenasalization did not occur at all uniformly in the productions of the survey participants; there was considerable variation, both between speakers and between target words. Also, while sex and socio-economic group were not predictors, age was, with the oldest participant having the highest prenasalization rate. Given the complex social and historical situation regarding dialect use in Japan, the Kahoku dialect has undoubtedly been altered lexically, morphologically, and phonologically.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction 1
- Generative treatments of rendaku and related issues 13
- Psycholinguistic studies of rendaku 35
- Rendaku and Identity Avoidance 47
- Rendaku awareness of Japanese learners in Taiwan 57
- The Rendaku Database 79
- Rosen’s Rule 107
- Rendaku and individual segments 119
- Rendaku in Okinawan 139
- Rendaku in Tōhoku Japanese 173
- Rendaku in cross-linguistic perspective 195
- A rendaku bibliography 235
- References 251
- Index 273
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction 1
- Generative treatments of rendaku and related issues 13
- Psycholinguistic studies of rendaku 35
- Rendaku and Identity Avoidance 47
- Rendaku awareness of Japanese learners in Taiwan 57
- The Rendaku Database 79
- Rosen’s Rule 107
- Rendaku and individual segments 119
- Rendaku in Okinawan 139
- Rendaku in Tōhoku Japanese 173
- Rendaku in cross-linguistic perspective 195
- A rendaku bibliography 235
- References 251
- Index 273
