The Effect of Lexical Accent on Perceived Japanese Vowel Length: Evidence from Croatian

Dragana Špica

doi:10.4312/ala.14.2.65-91

Authors

Dragana ŠPICA University of Pula https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1008-2700

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/ala.14.2.65-91

Keywords:

vowel length, lexical accent, perception of long vowels, Croatian, Japanese

Abstract

The present paper examines the effect of Japanese lexical accent on the perception of Japanese vowel length in Croatian listeners. Lexical accent patterns of the two languages, both having phonologically distinctive length and pitch, are contrasted. A three-alternative choice identification test was conducted involving all combinations of three pitch patterns and two positions of a long vowel in bisyllabic words. Two groups of participants were Croatian students of Japanese and those without any prior knowledge. The results showed not only the effects of pitch pattern but also of the position of the long vowel (initial or final) and group. Participants had the highest error rates for pitch pattern LHL, followed by HLL, regardless of the group and position of the long vowel.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bakran, J. (1988). Tolerance of segmental duration variation of continuous speech. Speech '88. Proceedings of Seventh FASE Symposium, Edinburgh, Book 2, 509-513.

Han, M. (1962). The feature of duration in Japanese, Onsei no Kenkyuu [Studies in Phonetics], 10, 65-80.

Haraguchi, S. (1977). The tone pattern of Japanese: An autosegmental theory of tonology. Tokyo: Kaitakusha.

Hattori, S. (1981). Serubokuroachiago no akusentoso ni tsuite, Gengo kagaku, 8, 157-163.

Hirata, Y. (2004). Effects of speaking rate on the vowel length distinction in Japanese. Journal of Phonetics, 32(4), 565–589.

Hirata, Y. (2015). L2 phonetics and phonology. Handbook of Japanese Phonetics and Phonology (pp. 719-762). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

Inkelas, S., & Zec, D. (1988). Serbo-Croatian pitch accent: the interaction of tone, stress, and intonation, Language, 64, 227- 248. https://www.jstor.org/stable/415433

Ivić, P. (1994). Srpskohrvatski dijalekti: njihova struktura i razvoj. Sremski Karlovci: Knjižarica Zorana Stojanovića.

Josipović, V. (1994). Typology of Rhythmic Systems. Studia Romanica et Anglica Zagrabiensia (SRAZ) XXXIX, 25-37. https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/178800

Kapović, M. (2015). Povijest hrvatske akcentuacije. Fonetika. Zagreb: Matica Hrvatska https://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/793569.Kapovic_Mate_2015_Povijest_hrvatske_akcentuacije._Fonetika_Matica_hrvatska_Zagreb.pdf

Kapović, M. (2018). The unattainable standard – Zagreb dialect meets Standard Croatian accentuation. Int. J. Slavic Studies, 7(1), 337–362. https://www.academia.edu/37328147/Kapovic_2018_The_Unattainable_Standard_Zagreb_Dialect_Meets_Standard_Croatian_Accentuation

Kapović, M. (2023). Uvod u fonologiju, Zagreb: Lijevak.

Kawahara, S. (2015). The phonology of Japanese accent. In H. Kubozono (Ed.), Handbook of Japanese Phonetics and Phonology (pp. 445-493). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

Kubozono, H. (2015). Introduction to Japanese phonetics and phonology. In H. Kubozono (Ed.), Handbook of Japanese Phonetics and Phonology (pp. 1-42). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

Kubozono, H. (2018). Pitch accent. In Y. Hasegawa (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Japanese Linguistics (pp. 154-180). Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres.

Labrune, L. (2012). The Phonology of Japanese. Oxford Scholarship Online.

Langston, K. (1997). Pitch Accent in Croatian and Serbian: Towards an Autosegmental Analysis. Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 5(1), 80-116. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24599009

Lehiste, I., & Ivić, P. (1963). Accent in Serbocroatian: an experimental study. Michigan Slavic Materials 4. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.

Lehiste, I., & Ivić, P. (1986). Word and Sentence Prosody in Serbocroatian. Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Mandić, D. (2005). Autosegmentna fonologija i naglasak. Jezikoslovlje, 6(2), 171-193. https://hrcak.srce.hr/30868

Mandić, D. (2007). Naglasak. Fluminensia, 19(1), 77-94.

Martinović, B. (2020). Od gramatike do komunikacije i natrag – primjer zanaglasnih dužina. Jezikoslovlje, 21(1), 27-51. https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/350322

Martinović, B., Pletikos Olof, E., & Vlašić Duić, J. (2021). Naglasak na naglasku. Pula: Sveučilište Jurja Dobrile u Puli.

McCawley, J. D. (1968). The phonological component of a grammar of Japanese. The Hague: Mouton.

Mildner, V., & Lisker, L. (1987). Acoustic vs. lexical judgements in the perception of falling accents in Serbo-Croatian: a preliminary study. Proceedings of the XIth International Congress of Phonetic Science, Tallin, 1, 324-321.

Minagawa-Kawai, Y., Maekawa, K. & Kiritani, S. (2002). Effects of Pitch Accent and Syllable Position in Identifying Japanese Long and Short Vowels: Comparison of English and Korean Speakers. Journal of the Phonetic Society of Japan, 6(2), 88-97.

Nakamura, I., Minematsu, N., Suzuki, M., Hirano, H., Chieko Nakagawa, C., Nakamura, N., Tagawa, Y., Hirose, K., & Hashimoto, H. (2013). Development of a web framework for teaching and learning Japanese prosody: OJAD (Online Japanese Accent Dictionary). Interspeech 2013, 2554-2558.

NHK Hōsō bunka kenkyūjo. (2016). Nihongo hatsuon akusento shinjiten [The New Dictionary of Japanese pronunciation and accent]. Tokyo: NHK Shuppan.

OJAD (Online Japanese Accent Dictionary). (Minematsu Laboratory, Grad. School of Eng., The University of Tokyo Saito Laboratory, Grad. School of Eng., The University of Tokyo). https://www.gavo.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ojad/phrasing

Otake, T. (2015). Mora and mora-timing. In H. Kubozono (Ed.), Handbook of Japanese Phonetics and Phonology (pp. 493- 523). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

Panda bros. (2022, December 31). Pasu no kerikata: shiin ni yotte keriwakero! Pasu no shurui to kerikata o oshiemasu [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIeGkxfNf70

Pletikos Olof, E., & Bradfield, J. (2019a). Standard Croatian pitch accents – theory and practice, The 27th Manchester Phonology Meeting.

Pletikos Olof, E., & Bradfield, J. (2019b). Standard Croatian pitch-accents: fact and fiction, Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences ICPhS 2019. Australian Speech Science & Technology Association Inc, Canberra, Australia. https://www.bib.irb.hr:8443/1019370

Pletikos Olof, E., Vlašić Duić, J., & Bićanić, J. (2023). Perception of Standard Croatian pitch accents by speakers from pitch accent and from stress accent regiolects, Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences ICPhS 2023, 361-365.

Pletikos, E. (2003). Akustički opis hrvatskih standardnih naglasaka. Govor, 20(1-2), 321-345. https://hrcak.srce.hr/179385

Pletikos, E. (2008). Akustički opis hrvatske prozodije riječi. Doktorska disertacija.

Rajle, L., Martinović B., & Pletikos Olof, E. (2020). Zanaglasne dužine u osječkom govoru. Jezikoslovlje, 21(1), 53-80. https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/350325

Shaw. J. A., & Kawahara, S. (2017). Effects of Surprisal and Entropy on Vowel Duration in Japanese. Language and Speech, 62(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0023830917737331

Srdanović, I., & Špica, D. (2022). Uvod u znanost o japanskom jeziku: Osnovna obilježja, glasovni sustav i leksički slojevi. Pula: Sveučilište Jurja Dobrile u Puli.

Škarić, I. (2007). Fonetika hrvatskoga književnoga jezika. In S. Babić, D. Brozović, I. Škarić & S. Težak (Eds.), Glasovi i oblici hrvatskoga književnoga jezika (pp. 17-151). Zagreb: Globus.

Špica, D. (2021). Izgovor japanskog mornog nazala /N/ kod hrvatskih učenika. Tabula: časopis Filozofskog fakulteta, Sveučilište Jurja Dobrile u Puli, 18, 109-132. https://hrcak.srce.hr/clanak/385869

Toda, T. (2003). Acquisition of Special Morae in Japanese as a Second Language. Journal of the Phonetic Society of Japan, 7, 70-83.

Tsujimura, N. (2014). An Introduction to Japanese. Oxford: Blackwell.

Tsukada, K. (1999). An acoustic phonetic analysis of Japanese-accented English. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Macquarie University, Sydney.

Tsukada, K. (2012). Non-native Japanese listeners’ perception of vowel length contrasts in Japanese and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Second Language Research, 28(2), 151-168. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658311435870

Tsukada, K., Hirata, Y., & Roengpitya, R. (2014). Cross-Language Perception of Japanese Vowel Length Contrasts: Comparison of Listeners From Different First Language Backgrounds. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 57, 805–814.