Abstract
The author argues that the loss of Proto-Japanese right edge tone, a possible source of the pitch accent HL, left the lexical tone systems in Kyushu with only non-falling tones: H+ (high level), L+{(low level with the right edge rise), L+H (slow rising), and LH+ (fast rising). The present-day tonal variants in Kyushu are explained as outcomes of the combinations of four major innovations, of which two are mutually exclusive: (1) the merging of L+{, L+H and LH+, (2) the shifting of H+ to LH+} or L+{(H+}) with the phonemicization of the previously phonetic falling edge tone,}, (3) the raising of L+ in L+{and L+H, which gave rise to the pitch accent H]H, and (4) LH+ taking on word-initial accentuation.
