Issues in the Historical Study of Accents of Sino-Japanese Words

Abstract

Historical research on accents of Sino-Japanese words has been largely neglected. Major unresolved issues include how original Chinese pronunciations were assimilated into the Japanese accentual system and how the resulting accent patterns evolved within the framework of Japanese phonological history. This paper discusses topics related to the adaptation of loanwords based on the author’s research on the historical study of Sino-Japanese accents. Specifically, it aims to (1) explore a phase-based perspective for understanding Sino-Japanese word accents within Japanese phonological history, (2) analyze Sino-Japanese word accents through comparative linguistics, and (3) investigate studies on the history of the formation of accent patterns in Sino-Japanese words. Through these discussions, this paper suggests that the study of Sino-Japanese word accents is crucial not only for historical linguistic research specific to Japanese but also for historical linguistics in general.