Three types of accent kernels in Japanese

The primary goal of this paper is to argue that there are three types of accent kernels in Japanese pitch accent systems: a lowering kernel, an ascending kernel, and a raising kernel. Accent kernels are characterized by the location and the direction of pitch movement: A lowering kernel, which is the most common kernel type in Japanese dialects, has the power to lower what follows it; an ascending kernel, found in Northern Tohoku dialects, is characterized by a rise in pitch on the prosodic unit that is associated with the accent kernel; and a raising kernel, found in some dialects in Kanto districts, has the function of raising the pitch of the following prosodic unit. The latter two types of kernels have presumably developed from the first type. The changes in kernel type can be explained as a result of a progressive shift by which both pitch rise and fall shifted in words from left to right. This type of progressive shift is very commonly observed in the history of Japanese accent. Moreover, the same type of shift can be seen to occur in Korean, too, accounting for the historical relationship between modern Gyeongsang (Kyungsang) dialects and Middle Korean.

► There are three types of accent kernels in Japanese: lowering, ascending and raising.
► Accent kernels are characterized by the location and the direction of pitch movement.
► The ascending and raising kernels have presumably developed from the lowering kernel.
► The changes in kernel type are explained by progressive shift of pitch rise and fall.
► MK is linguistically “younger” than modern GS dialects in terms of its accent system.