A Sociolinguistic Study of Pitch Leveling in Japanese: A Preliminary Analysis

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A Sociolinguistic Study of Pitch Leveling in
JapaneseA Preliminary Analysis

• Shoji Takano
• Hokusei Gakuen University
• Ichiro Ota
• Kagoshima University
• UK Language Variation and Change 5
• University of Aberdeen
• September 12, 2005

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Background

• Takeshi Shibatas (1995) Informal Observation on
  Recently Emerging Changes in Japanese
• General preference for non-prominence among the
  younger generation because they want to convey
  images of novelty, freshness and urbanity in
  speech (p.181-2). For example,
• (1) Leveling of lexical accents
• e.g., kareshi boyfriend ? kareshi ( x
  indicates a pitch accent.)
• (2) Leveling of sentence intonation or pitch
  in general (p. 185)
• It may be fair to assume that sentence-level
  pitch leveling (2) precedes lexical accent
  leveling (1) (p. 185).
• However, it should be noted that the change in
  question is considered specific to Tokyo
  Japanese. We do not know whether the change has
  become widespread in local dialects as well (p.
  186).
• No follow-up studies have been conducted thus
  far
• no empirical evidence that verifies Shibatas
  observation is available today.

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The Present Study

• Research Question
• (1) We empirically examine Shibatas hypothesis
  on sentence- level pitch leveling prevalent among
  the younger generation.
• (2) We explore the possibility that the change
  in question is a nation-wide phenomenon.
• Data
• 3 read sentences that consist only of accented
  (kifuku-shiki) words
• (/ xx / indicates an
  accentual phrase.)
• (1) /Basu wa/ /nai kara/ /aruite/ /ikoo./
• (Lets walk since there is no bus service.)
• (2) /Doryoku/ /shitemo/ /imi ga/ /nai./
• (Its meaningless even if you make an effort.)
• (3) /yomeba/ /yomuhodo/ /yukai na/ /hanashi
  da./
• (The deeper you read, the more amusing you find
  the story.)

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• Hokkaido Subjects
• 20 Hokkaido dialect speakers in 2 age groups
  all are natives in coastal areas of Hidaka
  (including the towns of Shizunai and Mitsuishi)
• Kagoshima Subjects
• 10 native informants in the southern Kyushu
  region all are females

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• Analytical Procedures
• ? How can we identify the leveling of pitch?
• ? In an utterance involving the leveling of
  pitch
• (1) Fundamental frequency (F0) of every
  accented phrase (AP) is weakened i.e., every
  pitch peak is relatively lower than otherwise.
• (2) The movement of pitch involves a steady
  declination due to the
• above-mentioned pitch accent weakening.
• ? How can we measure the leveling of pitch?
• (see Figure 1)
• Step 1 Measuring the pitch range (PR) of each
  utterance as the
• benchmark ?
• Maximum F0 - Minimum F0 PR
• Step 2 Measuring the height of F0 peak for
  every AP ?
• Step 3 Measuring the relative decrease of F0
  peak (divided by PR)
• F0 peak of 1st AP? - F0 peak of 2nd AP, 3rd AP,
  4th AP, etc.
• F0 declination
• Step 4 Measuring the relative magnitude of
  pitch rise (divided by PR)
• AP-final F0 ? - F0 peak of the following AP
  F0 increase

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• Figure 1 /Doryoku//shitemo//imi ga//nai/ by
  a 65-year-old Shizunai woman
• The utterance involving pitch leveling should
  show
• (1) The value of F0 declination is high
• Pitch declination curve is relatively steep and
  steady (without prominent pitch rise) toward the
  end of an utterance.
• (2) The value of F0 increase is low
• F0 rise of every AP is small-scale in its
  magnitude.

?
?
?
?
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• Results
• In 2 (S-2, S-3) out of 3 sentences, differences
  in both F0 declination and F0 increase are found
  statistically significant between the age groups.
• Sentence 2 /doryoku//shitemo//imi ga//nai/
• F0 declination ( divided by PR)
• /doryoku/ ? /imi ga/
• Younger Group -33.4
• Older Group -21.2 p lt .05
• F0 increase ( divided by PR)
• /shitemo/ ? /imi ga/
• Younger Group 36
• Older Group 70.5 p lt .01

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• Sentence 3 /yomeba//yomuhodo//yukai
  na//hanashi da/
• F0 declination ( divided by PR)
• /yomeba/ ? /yomuhodo/ /yomeba/ ? /yukai
  na/
• Younger Group -37.4 -36.7
• Older Group -10.3 -11
• p lt .05 p lt .01
• F0 increase ( divided by PR)
• /yomeba/ ? /yomuhodo/ /yomuhodo/ ?
  /yukai na/
• Younger Group 14.9 35
• Older Group 51.4 64.9
• p lt .01 p lt .05

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Individual distribution Sentence 2
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Individual distribution in HIdaka Sentence 3
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Pitch Contours of Age Groups
Young
Old
subject to catathesis
steady realization of pitch accents
minor pitch peaks and accentual de-generation
prominent pitch peaks
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Summary Discussion

• YES! Pitch Leveling is Prevalent among the
  Younger Generation
• OLD less F0 declination, more F0 increase
• Realization of pitch accents is sure and
  steady.
• F0 is vigorous and dynamic in its movement
  with relatively prominent pitch peaks and even
  with frequent pitch reset.
• YOUNG more F0 declination, less F0 increase
• Realization of pitch accents is subject to
  catathesis ( a feature of the Tokyo
  dialect).
• F0 is flat with relatively minor pitch peaks
  and accentual de-generation.
• YES! This could be a nation-wide phenomenon
• One of the processes of standardization of
  regional dialects?
• Female speakers lead this change both in Hokkaido
  and Kagoshima, as is usually the case in
  linguistic change in general??

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Further Investigation to Call For

• Is there such a thing as age-linked differences
  in perception of prosodic units?
• OLD frequent pitch reset ? sensitivity to
  individual APs as a single prosodic unit
• YOUNG frequent weakening or de-generation of
  pitch accents ? tendency to do chunking of
  multiple APs as a single prosodic unit
• Is this a genuine linguistic change or just a
  reflection of age-grading?
• The necessity of more widespread corpora (e.g.,
  middle-aged group, speakers of different local
  dialects) for further analysis
• How can we account for individual variability
  within the age group?
• The necessity of a more qualitative look at
  individuals social lives, including the degree
  of contact with speakers of local dialects
  (e.g., grandparents), social network structures,
  loyalty to vernacular culture, etc.

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