On the Word Forms of the Birds “Hototogisu” and “Uguisu”

Abstract

The oldest accent patterns of the avian names "hototogisu" and "uguisu" are presumed to be [LLLHL] and [LLHL] respectively and are associated with the pitch patterns of their songs. This fact shows objective evidence that these words are the onomatopoeic expressions which imitate their songs. Another fact that the H of their accent patterns correlates with an acute vowel [i] and the L with grave vowels [u] or [o] shows collateral evidence for the onomatopoetic hypothesis.

According to the past literature and recent questionnaire research, native speakers until the late Heian period had an clearer awareness that "hototogisu" and "uguisu" originated from the avian songs than present-day native speakers. The decreased awareness of their etymology seems to reflect the dissimilarity between the pitch patterns of the original songs and the accent patterns that changed from [LLLHL] and [LLHL] to [HHHLL or LHHLL] and [LHLL or HLLL] respectively.