RESEARCH ON THE ACCENT IN THE KINKI DISTRICT AND ITS VICINITY

1993 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 04451091
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: 言語学・音声学
• Research Institution: KAGAWA UNIVERSITY
• Principal Investigator: NAKAI Yukihiko KAGAWA UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, ASSISTANT PROFFESSOR, 教育学部, 助教授 (10221441)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NITTA Tetsuo HIROSHIMA BUNKYO WOMEN'S COLLEGE, FACULTY OF LETTERS, LECTURER, 文学部, 講師 (90172725)
• Project Period (FY): 1992 – 1993
• Keywords: CENTRAL-TYPE ACCENT / TARUI-TYPE ACCENT / REGISTER / ACCENTUAL CHANGE / WAKASA DIALECT OF FUKUI PREFECTURE / KOHOKU DIALECT OF SHIGA PREFECTURE / TANBA DIALECT OF KYOTO PREFECTURE

Research Abstract

This research clarified the geographic distribution of the accentual systems in the northeast of the Kinki district. According to the investigators' linguistic survery, the Central-type and Tarui-type Accents are distributed in this area.
The Central-type Accent, in which two registers and one lowering kernel are distinctive, can be found in the Kohoku area of Shiga prefecture, and the central part of the Wakasa area of Fukui prefecture.
The Tarui-type Accent, in which only one lowering kernel is distinctive is distributed in the eastern end and western end of the Wakasa area.
The Intermediate-type Accents lying between the Central-type and the Tarui-type are scattered in several small areas.
Diachronically, the Tarui-type Accent came into existence, from the Central-type Accent, by the loss of the phonological opposition of the two registers. The Intermediate-type Accents are in the process of this same type of change. The mechanisms of this accentual change were made clear by the investigators through this survey.