Abstract
The aim of this paper is to describe some characteristics of the accents of the Amami dialects, as compared with those of Mainland Japanese dialects. The following points are discussed with concrete examples: (1) there is great variation among the dialects, (2) many dialects have multi-peak patterns, (3) N-pattern accent systems are dominant, with multi-pattern accent systems found as well, and (4) there are various kinds of accentual alternations. The historical aspects of Amami accent are also sketched: (5) I propose proto-categories for accent, and (6) three types of origins for accent are found and discussed. Lastly, I propose that the traditional analysis of syllable structure must be revised to capture the general nature of accentual alternations.
