Abstract
Hardly any research on the rhythm of spoken Japanese, particularly the rhythm of casual speech has been conducted, although there are some studies on the rhythm of short phrases and verses. This is because the rhythm in fast and casual speech is complex due to contractions and prolongations of syllables. As we are interested in teaching the rhythm of spoken Japanese to foreign learners, we are conducting contrastive studies of rhythms of Japanese and other languages with TEMAX, which processes spoken language automatically and shows rates of speed of utterances. We suggest how to improve TEMAX so that it can be utilized in teaching the rhythm of spoken Japanese.
