Bilingualism and Accent Changes in Kagoshima Japanese
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Haruo Kubozono
Abstract
This article analyzes ongoing accent changes in Kagoshima Japanese to show that the young speakers’ accent patterns are heavily influenced by the pitch patterns of standard Tokyo Japanese. Specifically, they are sensitive to the presence or absence of a pitch fall in Tokyo forms and copy this feature into the accent patterns of their native dialect. In addition, young native speakers of Kagoshima Japanese have phonological knowledge not only about the accented/ unaccented distinction in individual words in Tokyo but also about accent rules in this standard dialect. This shows the extent to which young Kagoshima speakers know about the phonology of Tokyo Japanese as well as the extent to which bilingualism can change the accent system of a particular dialect. This article also demonstrates that pitch accent patterns in other Japanese dialects are also heavily influenced by the accent patterns of the standard dialect, on the one hand, and loanword prosody is also governed by the same mechanism, on the other.
Abstract
This article analyzes ongoing accent changes in Kagoshima Japanese to show that the young speakers’ accent patterns are heavily influenced by the pitch patterns of standard Tokyo Japanese. Specifically, they are sensitive to the presence or absence of a pitch fall in Tokyo forms and copy this feature into the accent patterns of their native dialect. In addition, young native speakers of Kagoshima Japanese have phonological knowledge not only about the accented/ unaccented distinction in individual words in Tokyo but also about accent rules in this standard dialect. This shows the extent to which young Kagoshima speakers know about the phonology of Tokyo Japanese as well as the extent to which bilingualism can change the accent system of a particular dialect. This article also demonstrates that pitch accent patterns in other Japanese dialects are also heavily influenced by the accent patterns of the standard dialect, on the one hand, and loanword prosody is also governed by the same mechanism, on the other.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Preface VII
- Introduction 1
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Part I: Tonal Neutralization
- Towards a Typology of Postlexical Tonal Neutralizations 7
- Postlexical Tonal Neutralizations in Kagoshima Japanese 27
- Tonal Neutralization and Lexical Category in Nagasaki Japanese 58
- Tonal Neutralization in the Ikema Dialect of Miyako Ryukyuan 83
- Accentual Neutralization in Japanese Dialects 129
- Chinese Tonal Neutralization across Dialects: From Typological, Geographical, and Diachronic Perspectives 156
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Part II: Tonal Change
- Towards a Typology of Tone System Changes 203
- Common Tone Sandhi Processes across Sino-Tibetan Languages 223
- Phonetic and Systemic Biases in Tonal Contour Changes in Bangkok Thai 249
- Bilingualism and Accent Changes in Kagoshima Japanese 279
- From Nyoro to Tooro: Historical and Phonetic Accounts of Tone Merger 330
- In Defense of a Dialect-contact Scenario of the Central Franconian Tonogenesis 350
- Index 380
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Preface VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Tonal Neutralization
- Towards a Typology of Postlexical Tonal Neutralizations 7
- Postlexical Tonal Neutralizations in Kagoshima Japanese 27
- Tonal Neutralization and Lexical Category in Nagasaki Japanese 58
- Tonal Neutralization in the Ikema Dialect of Miyako Ryukyuan 83
- Accentual Neutralization in Japanese Dialects 129
- Chinese Tonal Neutralization across Dialects: From Typological, Geographical, and Diachronic Perspectives 156
-
Part II: Tonal Change
- Towards a Typology of Tone System Changes 203
- Common Tone Sandhi Processes across Sino-Tibetan Languages 223
- Phonetic and Systemic Biases in Tonal Contour Changes in Bangkok Thai 249
- Bilingualism and Accent Changes in Kagoshima Japanese 279
- From Nyoro to Tooro: Historical and Phonetic Accounts of Tone Merger 330
- In Defense of a Dialect-contact Scenario of the Central Franconian Tonogenesis 350
- Index 380
