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Base transparency in suprasegmental changes: Ongoing changes in Japanese and English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Noriko Hattori
Noriko Hattori
Affiliation:
Mie University
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Abstract

This article deals with suprasegmental changes in progress in Japanese and English and demonstrates that the same kind of mechanism is in operation. Data on realtime changes in pitch accent, collected by comparing earlier editions of Japanese pronouncing dictionaries with recent editions, are examined. Analysis of data from present-day speech provides supplementary data on innovative accent. Two types of principle for accent change are proposed: the demand for paradigm coherence and the demand for canonical accent pattern. In the case of nouns derived from adjectives, the two appear to be in conflict. It is suggested that in Japanese the demand for paradigm coherence is the stronger principle. Similar kinds of conflict between two possible types of change are observed in ongoing stress changes in English. It is shown that base (or stem) transparency is a major factor in determining the directionality of accent change.

Type
Research Article
Information
Language Variation and Change , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , July 1998 , pp. 85 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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