Tone and Tonal Change in the Endangered Prosodic System of Kagoshima Japanese

1
Tone and Tonal Change in the Endangered Prosodic
System of Kagoshima Japanese

• Haruo Kubozono
• Kobe University
• kubozono_at_lit.kobe-u.ac.jp
• International Conference on Tone and
  Intonation_at_Santorini, Greece
• 10/09/2004

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Goals

• To sketch the prosodic system of Kagoshima
  Japanese (KJ), spoken at the southern edge of
  Japan (section 1).
• To describe ongoing tonal changes in the prosodic
  system of KJ (section 2).
• To explore the mechanism underlying these tonal
  changes (section 3).

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Tonal System of KJ Four Salient Features
(Hirayama 1951)

• 1. Two-Pattern System
• 2. Syllable-Based System
• 3. Compound Accent/Tone Rule
• 4. Phrasal Tone Rule

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Two-Pattern System
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2. Syllable-based System
Loanword accent rule Tokyo accent (high tone) on
antepenultimate mora. Kagoshima high tone on
penultimate syllable.
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3. Compound Accent/Tone Rule

• Tokyo determined by the final element
• áka singoo ? aka-síngoo red, signal red
  signal
• áo singoo ? ao-síngoo blue, signal green
  signal
• Kagoshima determined by the very first element
• a. A.ka sin.GOO ? aka-SIN.goo red signal
• A.ka en.PI.tu ? a.ka-en.PI.tu red
  pencil
• b. a.O sin.GOO ? a.o-sin.GOO green signal
• a.O en.PI.tu ? a.o-en.pi.TU blue pencil
• The prosodic property of the initial morpheme
  is inherited by the compound word and realized at
  the very end of the whole word.

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4. Phrasal Tone Rule

• In Tokyo Japanese, the domain of accent/tone
  assignment is the word a word accent pattern is
  fixed
• a. námida eyedrop námida-ga eyedrop-NOM
• HLL HLL-L
• b. kokóro heart kokóro-ga heart-NOM
• LHL LHL-L
• c. otokó man otokó-ga man-NOM
• LHH LHH-L
• d. sakana fish sakana-ga fish-NOM
• LHH LHH-H

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• In KJ, the domain of tone assignment is not the
  word, but the phrase (bunsetsu??)
• a. namida eyedrop namida-ga eyedrop-NOM
• LLH LLL-H
• b. kokoro heart kokoro-ga heart-NOM
• LLH LLL-H
• c. otoko man otoko-ga man-NOM
• LLH LLL-H
• d. sakana fish sakana-ga fish-NOM
• LHL LLH-L
• The prosodic property of the initial morpheme
  is inherited by the whole phrase and realized at
  the very end of the phrase.

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Apparent Tone Shift long-distance effect

• Tone A
• san.to.RII.ni Santorini LLHL
• san.to.rii.NI.too Santorini Island LLLH-L
• san.to.rii.ni.TOO-ga Santorini Island-NOM
  LLLL-H-L
• san.to.rii.ni.too-KA.ra from Santorini
  Island LLLL-L-HL
• san.to.rii.ni.too-ka.RA.mo from Santorini
  Island, too LLLL-L-LH-L
• Tone B
• yoo.rop.PA Europe LLH
• yoo.rop.pa-GA Europe-NOM LLL-H
• yoo.rop.pa-ka.RA from Europe LLL-LH
• yoo.rop.pa-ka.ra-MO from Europe, too LLL-LL-H

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Project on Tonal Changes in Kagoshima Japanese

• Outline of Project
• Goal To describe and analyze how the KJ tonal
  system changes under the influence of Tokyo
  Japanese, e.g. how the two-pattern system
  disappears, how the compound/phrasal tone rules
  are affected.
• Informants native speakers in three
  generationsteenagers (13-15 year olds) ,
  middle-aged (40-55 year olds) and senior group
  (60-80 year olds) in five different towns in
  Kagoshima Prefecture.
• Assessment The informants tonal patterns of
  basic nouns were compared with the correct
  tonal patterns listed in the dictionary (Hirayama
  1960). Tonal patterns of compound nouns and
  phrases were assessed according to the
  compound/phrasal tone rules.

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Test Words

• 7 datasets, some hundred words in all
• Each dataset consists of three types of
  expressionsbasic (non-compound) nouns, compound
  nouns and ga-phrases (noun plus the nominative
  particle ga).
• Examples
• a.me.ri.ka America
• a.me.ri.ka-ga America-NOM
• a.me.ri.ka-ryo.koo America, trip trip to
  America
• The basic nouns fall into three types native,
  Sino-Japanese and loan.

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Assessment

• ? gi.RI.sya Greece
• ?gi.ri.SYA, ? Gi.ri.sya
• gi.RI.sya
• ? gi.ri.SYA-ga Greece-NOM
• ? gi.ri.sya-RYO.koo trip to Greece
• ? gi.ri.sya-GA
• ? gi.ri.sya-ryo.KOO
• gi.ri.SYA
• ? gi.ri.sya-GA
• ? gi.ri.sya-ryo.KOO
• ? gi.ri.SYA-ga
• ? gi.ri.sya-RYO.koo

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Table 1 Four tonal types of basic nouns

• Tokyo Kagoshima
• A GI.ri.sya gi.RI.sya Greece
• -A bu.RA.ZI.RU bu.ra.ZI.ru Brazil
• B DOo.na.tu doo.na.TU donut
• -B a.ME.RI.KA a.me.ri.KA America
• N.B. //accented in Tokyo, /-/unaccented in
  Tokyo
• /A/Tone A in KJ, /B/Tone B in KJ

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Table 2 Four tonal types of compound nouns

• Tokyo Kagoshima
• A a.KA.SIn.goo a.ka.SIN.goo red signal
• -A sya.KAI.TOO sya.KAI.too socialist
  party
• B a.O.SIn.goo a.o.sin.GOO green
  signal
• -B zi.YUU.TOO zi.yuu.TOO liberal party

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Results Takae in Kagoshima Sendai, with rather
conservative speakers.
Table 3 Percentage of wrong answers
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Table 4 Percentage of wrong answers in
teenagers group
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Influence of Tokyo Japanese

• Tokyo Kagoshima
• A GI.ri.sya gi.RI.sya Greece
• -A bu.RA.ZI.RU bu.ra.ZI.ru Brazil
• ? bu.ra.zi.RU
• B DOo.na.tu doo.na.TU donut
• ? doo.NA.tu
• -B a.ME.RI.KA a.me.ri.KA America

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Summary of Change

• If a word is pronounced with a falling pitch in
  Tokyo, it tends to be pronounced with a falling
  pitch (Tone A) by teenagers in Kagoshima.
• If a word is pronounced without a falling pitch
  in Tokyo, it tends to be pronounced without a
  falling pitch (Tone B) by teenagers in Kagoshima.
• These bidirectional changes take place in
  compound nouns, too.

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Mechanism of Change

• Perceptual factor Teenagers in Kagoshima are
  sensitive to the presence/absence of a pitch
  fall, but not its location, in Tokyo patterns. If
  there is a pitch fall in the target word (Tokyo),
  then there is a pitch fall in the output
  (Kagoshima). If there is no pitch fall in the
  target (Tokyo), there is no pitch fall in the
  output (Kagoshima).
• Phonological factor However, the precise output
  form is determined by the native phonology
• Tokyo Kagoshima
• DOo.na.tu ? doo.NA.tu donut
• bu.RA.ZI.RU ? bu.ra.zi.RU Brazil

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Similar Strategy in Tokyo Japanese Loanword
Adaptations
Word type and accent frequencies (9,047
trimoraic words)
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Why are most loanwords accented in Tokyo Japanese?

• Lóndon, Líverpool, Massachúsetts
• ? rón.don, ri.ba.púu.ru,
  ma.sa.tyuu.sét.tu
• Perceptual factor determines the overall shape
  If there is a pitch fall in the source, then
  there is a pitch fall in the output (accented
  loanwords).
• Phonological factor determines the precise output
  form The output pattern is determined by the
  native phonology Líverpool ? ri.ba.púu.ru

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Conclusion

• Tonal confusion in progress between the two
  contrastive tonal patterns in Kagoshima Japanese.
• Influence of Tokyo Japanese
• Two factors characterizing the change
• Perceptual factor determines the overall
  prosodic shape.
• Phonological factor determines the precise
  pattern.
• The same factors at work in the adaptation of
  loanwords in Tokyo Japanese.

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THANK YOU
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REFERENCES

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