The Origins and Development of Japanese Mora Nasals

Description

This dissertation discusses the history and development of mora nasals in Japanese, from their first appearance in Early Middle Japanese to their phonetic and phonemic status in modern standard (Tokyo) Japanese. By examining a range of data, from attested historical changes to hypoarticulate speech in the modern language, I describe the phonological processes and certain of the morphological rules which give rise to mora nasals.Chapter 1 gives an overview of the dissertation and defines terms and time periods used. Chapter 2 is an introduction to Natural Phonology, the phonological theory used.Chapter 3 lays out further phonological groundwork for the dissertation. Specifically, it examines relevant issues in timing systems and syllable structure, as well as the differences between Old Japanese, which did not have mora nasals, and Middle Japanese, where mora nasals first appeared. Chapter 4 covers the environments and processes for hatsuombin, the complex of changes which gave rise to mora nasals.Chapter 5 covers mora nasals in the large Sino-Japanese vocabulary, and chapter 6 covers further developments between Middle Japanese and Early Modern Japanese. Finally, chapter 7 investigates mora nasals in modern standard Japanese, including a detailed account of the phonetics and a discussion of the phonemic status of mora nasals.