Rie Urasoko
(reviewers: Haruo Kubozonoi, Connor Youngberg)
Abstract: This paper studies the tendency towards de-accentuation in Tokyo Japanese focusing on two factors likely to favor or disfavor de-accentuation: word length and the position of the original accent kernel. The main finding is that de-accentuation is correlated to two factors: higher rates of de-accentuation occur in medium-sized words (especially 4μ), and when the word is originally accented on the penultimate mora. On the contrary, smaller and bigger word sizes (less than 2μ and more than 5μ) and words originally accented on the antepenultimate mora are more likely to go against the tendency of de-accentuation.
Urasoko, Rie. 2023. “De-Accentuation in Tokyo Japanese”. Radical: A Journal of Phonology, 3, 168-202.