Abstract
This study examines the influence of word accent on high vowel devoicing in the Keihanshin area. Thirty-one native Japanese speakers (of old, middle-aged, and young generations) who had grown up in Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe participated in this experiment. The 117 words with four types of accents (HH, LL, HL, and LH) were analyzed. These four types are the pitch configurations of the first two morae in a word with two, three, or four morae. The high vowel of the first mora has a possibility of devoicing. Two main findings emerge from the study. First, differences among the four types of accents do not significantly affect the devoicing rate of the speakers who have traditional Keihan-shiki accents. Second, the devoicing rate of the older generation is significantly lower than that of the middle-aged or younger generation.
