Deepening the study of accent in endangered Japanese dialects through further research

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25370452
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo (2015); National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (2013-2014)
• Principal Investigator: UWANO ZENDO 東京大学, 人文社会系研究科, 名誉教授 (50011375)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 多型アクセント / Ｎ型アクセント / 複合名詞 / 式保存 / 徳之島方言 / 与論島方言 / 喜界島方言 / 与那国島方言

Outline of Final Research Achievements

(1)The accent system of the Asama dialect in Tokunoshima is interpreted as a multi-pattern system with four tonal patterns and one raising kernel, contrary to the prevailing view of an N-pattern system. (2)All the dialects on Yoron Island are also found to have a multi-pattern accent system with an ascending kernel, against the traditional view of an N-pattern system. (3)The central and southern dialects on Kikai Island are reinterpreted to have a three-pattern accent system, based on the survey of place names and foreign words. (4)As for the Yonaguni dialect, which basically has a three-pattern system, the accentual data of the word-class vocabulary, compound nouns and inflectional verb forms are reported in detail. (5)Concerning the feature-preserving rule between the compound nouns and their first members, six subtypes are found through a typological study between traditional compounds and productive compounds in a number of Japanese dialects.

Free Research Field

言語学・音声学