Regional diversity and uniqueness in the tonal neutralization process and mechanism for establishing new standards of accentual patterns

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00536
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02060:Linguistics-related
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Nasu Akio 筑波大学, 人文社会系, 准教授 (00294174)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: アクセント / 中和 / 式保存型形態素 / 標準語 / 共通語 / 地域差

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In Standard Japanese, tonal neutralization occurs mainly in verb phrases, where the tonal contrast merges into only an accented pattern. How this neutralization occurs varies depending on the region where the speaker grew up. This study analyzes data from CSJ and illustrates the following regional diversity. Speakers from the metropolitan area exhibit a tendency where the more word lengths increase, the more frequent the neutralization becomes. Those from Kanto region show a conservative inclination towards neutralization but have verb length sensitivity identical to those from the metropolitan area. There is no word-length sensitivity in the neutralization dynamics of those from unaccented regions. The frequency of neutralization is significantly higher in the Standard Japanese spoken by those from Western Japan. Those from the Keihanshin refer to the rules of their mother dialect even when speaking Standard Japanese, and this has characteristic effects on the state of neutralization.

Free Research Field

言語学・音韻論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的意義として特筆できるのは、現在進行中の音調中和現象を捕捉し、その実態に見られる地域的差異を記述し得たことである。従来のアクセント研究では首都圏在住者の言語のみを暗黙裡に共通語とみなしてきたが、本研究では各地で運用される共通語にまで観察を拡大し、中和をめぐる地域的多様性の現状を逸することなく捉えた。変わりゆく日本語の実態や地域的な多様性を捕捉することは言語学の成果として貴重であるとともに、母語である日本語の現状に対する人々の認識の深化にも貢献し得る点で、その社会的意義も大きい。変異の最中にある現象の実態を捉えることで、より実像に近い日本語の姿に迫れたことが本研究の意義である。