Abstract
Experiments on accent perception were carried out for native speakers of Japanese dialects, namely, the Tokyo dialect (Standard Japanese) and the Kagoshima dialect. Real words with several types of synthesized accent patterns, including native and non-native accents, were used as experimental stimuli. The results showed that the Kagoshima children and adults accepted both the native Kagoshima accent and the Tokyo accent, while the Tokyo children and adults only accepted their native accent. Further analysis revealed that accent sensitivity was lower in the Kagoshima children than in the Kagoshima adults. These results suggest that the Kagoshima speakers, particularly the Kagoshima children, possess an insensitivity to the perception of accent. This finding supports previous results that point out incorrect accent production in the Kagoshima children.
