日本語単語アクセントの傾向分析 -日本語能力試験N5レベルを中心に-

Abstract

This paper makes a trend analysis of accents of Japanese vocabulary in JPT(Japanese Proficiency Test) level N5. While the knowledge and understanding of 4 accent types is indispensable in teaching Japanese accents, it is also important to study words by heart by speaking them out loud. To this end, accent notation is necessary, which in turn requires an accurate understanding of the 4 accent types. Hiroyama(2012) argued that giving instructions by assigning shorthands for each type helps students understand accents with ease. This paper further argues that both instructors and students can have a better awareness of accents as well as are better motivated to learn about accents once they have examined the learner's initial tendency in word accents. 1,234 words from 7 parts of speech were selected as the subject of the analysis, which was then classified by part of speech and word length. By part of speech, 3 types take the lion's share: 52% of the selected words were nouns; 20% were verbs; 12% foreign words. They were followed by adverbs(6%), 'i' adjectives(4%), 'na' adjectives and interrogatives(3%, respectively). By word length, Type O words are most frequent(43%), follwed by Type B(26%), Type A(24%) and Type C(7%). By part of speech, Type O is most common in noun form(49%), while the majority of foreign words are Type A(53%); 'i' adjectives are mostly Type B(72%); Type O is again most common among 'na' adjectives, verbs as well as adverbs(46%, 56% and 46% respectively)