ТЕОРИЯ ЯПОНСКОГО МУЗЫКАЛЬНОГО УДАРЕНИЯ. ОСОБЕННОСТИ И ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ

THE THEORETICS OF THE JAPANESE PITCH-ACCENT. FEATURES AND CHARACTERISTICS

One of the least studied and at the same time the most difficult aspects of Japanese phonology is the so-called pitch-accent, or the Japanese accent. No linguistic research yet has come to a consensus about whether this aspect of the Japanese language is so important for a complete understanding of the language and how exactly it can be described: how many tones can be distinguished and what rules they follow. The study of this aspect of the Japanese language is complicated by the diversification of this phonological system in various dialects of the language. The article describes the well-known accentuation patterns, examines the patterns and variations of stress in Tokyo and other dialects of the Japanese language, determines the role of accentuation in the language and lists its functions. The article divided into four parts: the first one gives entry information about the most overall data about the Japanese pitch accent, which is appliable to the most common Tokyo dialect as well as other dialects of the Japanese language. The second part focuses on the pitch accent patterns of the Tokyo dialect itself. The third one is devoted to an overview of special characteristics of the Japanese dialects. Finally, the fourth one describes the most prominent tendencies observed nowadays.