Abstract
The Kinki dialect is different from the dialect of the Tokyo metropolitan area in that accent is placed at dependent moras, like /H/, /Q/, /N/, in some words. So, it is possible that speakers from these two areas differ in their perception of the duration of the moraic nasal, /N/. In this study, a recording of a native speaker of Japanese uttering the test words containing the moraic nasal /N/ was prepared, and the durations of the moraic nasal /N/ were changed. Ten females from the Tokyo metropolitan area and ten females from the Kinki area listened to these recordings and judged whether they thought the speaker was 'careless' towards the listener. When the moraic nasal /N/ was shortened, both groups tended to judge the speaker as 'careless' towards the listener. On the other hand, when the moraic nasal /N/ was lengthened, more Tokyo metropolitan speakers judged this as 'carelessness' towards the listener, while fewer Kinki speakers judged this as 'careless.' This indicates that linguistic environment influences perception.
