Laryngeal adjustments in Japanese word accent

Abstract

The role of the intrinsic laryngeal muscles in accomplishing various accent types in Japanese was studied. Specifically, the electromyographic activities of the posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) and the thyroarytenoid (VOC) were investigated in comparison with that of the cricothyroid (CT). It was revealed that the PCA activity for the voiceless stops or affricates following the first mora with accent kernel was significantly smaller than that for those in the second mora not preceded by accent kernel, regardless of whether or not this second mora has accent kernel. The results were in good agreement with those of fiberoptic observation. The glottal width was always larger for the latter group. The VOC showed activity patterns similar to the CT, generally peaking for the accent kernel. However, the VOC activity tended to decline more rapidly than the CT after the peak. It was also suggested that VOC activity was related not only to the realization of accent but to various segmental features such as glottalization of the word initial vowel or voicelessness of the phonetic segment. [Work supported by NIH NS‐13870.]