Reexamination of Japanese morphological and phonological history based on the uneven distribution of consonants in Romanised Christian materials

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25884041
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Japanese linguistics
• Research Institution: Ochanomizu University (2014); Osaka University (2013)
• Principal Investigator: TAKEMURA Asuka お茶の水女子大学, 大学院人間文化創成科学研究科, 助教 (10712747)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-08-30 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 拗音 / 口蓋化 / キリシタン資料 / 子音 / 動詞 / アクセント

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research examined the following 3 phonological and morphological problems.
With the phonological knowledge of uneven distribution of consonants appeared the yo-on syllable (i.e. palatalized syllable) in Romanized Christian materials. I investigated (1) what factors are concerned with the similarity of the uneven distribution of consonants of Jodai-tokushu kanadukai in the Nara period, (2) whether this uneven distribution can be found in the conjugation of Japanese verbs, and (3) whether the pitch accent participates in this distribution besides palatalization in Romanized Christian materials.
As a result of the research, the following 3 points were shown. (1) Diachronic and cross-linguistic common character of palatalized consonants could affect the uneven distribution of consonants. (2) The uneven distribution of consonants can confirm the conjunction of Japanese verbs, that is the morphological aspect. (3) The pitch accent is partially reflected in Romanized Christian materials.

Free Research Field

日本語学