アクセント核

Japanese

Kanji in this term
核
かく Grade: S
kan’on

Examples
In the pronunciation of the word にほん (Nihon, “Japan”), /nihoꜜn/, there is a pitch drop (indicated by the downstep arrow) after the mora ほ (ho): ほ (ho) has high pitch, while ん (n) has low pitch. Therefore, ほ (ho) is the アクセント核 (“accent kernel”) of this word.

Etymology

From アクセント (akusento, “accent”) + 核(かく) (kaku, “core; kernel; nucleus”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a̠kɯ̟̊ᵝsẽ̞nto̞ka̠kɯ̟ᵝ]

Noun

アクセント核(かく) • (akusento-kaku) 

1. (Japanese phonology) an accent kernel/nucleus (the so-called "accented" mora of an utterance, which singly occurs for each utterance and which immediately precedes a drop in pitch from high to low)

See also

• The accent types are named after the position of the accent kernel in a word: 頭高型 (atamadakagata, literally “head-high type”) for the first accented mora, 中高型 (nakadakagata, literally “mid-high type”) for any of the morae from second to penultimate, and 尾高型 (odakagata, literally “tail-high type”) for the last accented mora. Words with the 平板型 (heibangata, literally “flat type”) do not have an accent kernel.
• Depending on dialects and individual preference, the high pitch of words with an accent kernel (accented words) could actually be higher than the high pitch of words without one (unaccented words).
• 複合名詞 (fukugō meishi, “compound nouns”) are considered one "word" if they have only one accent type, or two or more separate "words" if they have more than one for their components. These two groups are dubbed by linguist Haruo Kubozono, 複合化複合名詞 (literally “compoundified compound nouns”) and 非複合化複合名詞 (literally “non-compoundified compound nouns”). Most compound nouns are of only either group, but some can be of both. For the former group, if the word is accented, there is only one accent kernel as expected; for the latter, there can be more than one accent kernel depending on the number of component "words" there are. For example:

• One "word", one accent kernel:

かくはいきぶつ (kakuhaikibutsu, “nuclear waste”) /kakɯhaikiꜜbut͡sɯ/

• Two "words", two accent kernels:

かく・はいきぶつ (kaku haikibutsu) /kaꜜkɯ haikiꜜbut͡sɯ/

だいいちじ・せかいたいせん (Daiichiji Sekaitaisen, “First World War”) /daꜜiit͡ɕid͡ʑi sekaitaꜜiseN/

• Three "words", three accent kernels:

だい・いちじ・せかいたいせん (Dai Ichiji Sekaitaisen) /daꜜi it͡ɕiꜜd͡ʑi sekaitaꜜiseN/

• 特殊拍 (tokushuhaku, “special morae”) (see 音節 (onsetsu, “syllable”)) such as the 促音 (sokuon, /Q/), the 撥音 (hatsuon, /N/), the lengthening part of a vowel (/ː/) and the offglide of a diphthong (/i/), can never be accent kernels, except when certain apparent trimoraic syllables are involved. Should they be due to certain patterns, the accent kernel will shift to an adjacent mora, usually the one before. For example, the suffix じん (-jin, citizen/native of a place) tends to make the mora immediately before じ (ji) the accent kernel (with few exceptions such as にほんじん (Nihonjin, “Japanese”) /nihoNd͡ʑiꜜN/ where the accent kernel is じ (ji) itself):

ちゅう.ご.く.じん (Chū.go.ku.jin, “Chinese”) /t͡ɕɯː.ɡo.kɯꜜ.d͡ʑiN/

However, should that mora be a special one, the accent kernel shifts to the mora before it:

*ロン.ドン.じん → ロン.ドン.じん (Ron.don.jin, “Londoner”) /ɾoN.doꜜN.d͡ʑiN/

*とう.きょう.じん → とう.きょう.じん (Tō.kyō.jin, “Tokyoite”) /toː.kjoꜜː.d͡ʑiN/

*ノ.ル.ウェー.じん → ノ.ル.ウェー.じん (No.ru.wē.jin, “Norwegian”) /no.rɯ.weꜜː.d͡ʑiN/

*か.せい.じん → か.せい.じん (Ka.sei.jin, “Martian”) /ka.seꜜi.d͡ʑiN/

*げん.だい.じん → げん.だい.じん (gen.dai.jin, “modern person”) /ɡeN.daꜜi.d͡ʑiN/

This rule seemingly breaks down when it comes to apparently trimoraic syllables, especially introduced by 外来語 (gairaigo, “European loanwords”). Trimoraic syllables are disfavored and seem to be broken into two separate syllables, turning what is supposed to be a special mora into a 自立拍 (jiritsuhaku, “free mora”):

*ス.ペイン.じん (Su.pein.jin) → ス.ペ.イン.じん (Su.pe.in.jin, “Spaniard”) /sɯ.pe.iꜜN.d͡ʑiN/

Suffixes such as っ子 (-kko) add one extra mora to any syllable before them, causing potential trimoraic syllables that need to be broken down:

*ロン.ドンっ.こ (Ron.donk.ko) → ロン.ド.ンっ.こ (Ron.do.nk.ko, “Londoner”) /ɾoN.do.NꜜQ.ko/

*とう.きょうっ.こ (Tō.kyōk.ko) → とう.きょ.うっ.こ (Tō.kyo.ok.ko, “Tokyoite”) /toː.kjo.ːꜜQ.ko/

*げん.だいっ.こ (gen.daik.ko) → げん.だ.いっ.こ (gen.da.ik.ko, “modern person”) /ɡeN.da.iꜜQ.ko/

See also

• 高(こう)低(てい)アクセント (kōtei akusento)