Abstract
This paper investigates the pitch accent system of Sino-Japanese words in Early Modern Kyoto Japanese. Specifically, the pitch accent system of four-mora Sino-Japanese written in two Chinese characters is discussed. The estimation of the accent patterns is based on Heike Mabushi, a music score of Heikyoku, musical storytelling with Japanese lute accompaniment. The main findings are as below. (i) H3 type (HHHL) and H1 type (HLLL) each accounts for 30 percent of 645 words in the corpus. H2 type (HHLL) and L2 type (LHLL) each represents another 15 percent. H0 type (HHHH) and L0 type (LLHH) account for the remaining 10 percent. (ii) H3 type becomes more frequent for the words with Go-on reading, whereas H1 is frequent for words with Kan-on reading. (iii) More than half of Go-on reading words exhibit the accent patterns that are formed by juxtaposition of the tones of two Chinese characters, i.e., Ping (fiat)-tone, Qu (departing)-tone, Ru (entering)-tone, or its regular variant. (iv) The words still used in contemporary Kyoto, when compared to the estimation of Early Modern accent in this study, tend to have changed into HO type accent, or less frequently, into H1 type.
