Accentedness and Rendaku in Japanese Deverbal Compounds

Abstract

Abstract: It has been pointed out that deverbal compounds in Japanese are divided into two categories: the Argument Type (i.e. the first element is the internal argument of the second one) and the Adjunct Type (i.e. the first element modifies the second one). The former tends to be accented and resist rendaku, while the latter tends to be unaccented and undergo rendaku, but the difference is less noticeable in longer compounds. First, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of these compounds by using a database and verifies the tendencies which have been pointed out in previous studies. Another goal of this study is to discuss why the Argument and Adjunct Types differ in accentedness. It is shown that the difference between the two arises even when rendaku is irrelevant or when the accentedness of the second element is the same: therefore, the occurrence of rendaku and the accentedness of the second element are not sufficient factors. As an alternative, this study points out that the lexical category of the whole compound affects accentedness. In some aspects of Japanese word formation, nominal words are more likely to be accented than verbal or adjectival ones. Therefore, the fact that the Argument Type compound, which often denotes an instrument or a person, tends to be accented can be analyzed as one of the manifestation of the relationship between lexical category and accentedness.