Open AccessMorpheme-Based Rendaku as a Rhythmic Stabilizer in Eastern Old Japanese Poetry
Author(s) -
John Kupchik
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
acta linguistica asiatica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.114
H-Index - 2
ISSN - 2232-3317
DOI - 10.4312/ala.2.1.9-22
Subject(s) - morpheme , poetry , rhythm , linguistics , voice , vowel , focus (optics) , line (geometry) , function (biology) , history , philosophy , mathematics , aesthetics , physics , biology , evolutionary biology , geometry , optics
This paper explores the functions of morpheme-based rendaku, or “sequential voicing”, in Eastern Old Japanese poetry, with a focus on its function of maintaining rhythmic stability in poetic verse. It is argued that this function is implemented to avoid a hypermetrical line when no adjacent vowels exist as candidates for synchronic elision. Furthermore, a comparison with synchronic vowel elision is conducted. Based on the results, it is argued that morpheme-based rendaku is preferred to synchronic vowel elision when both are available options for maintaining the rhythmic stability of a line. Linguistic constraints blocking morpheme-based rendaku are also discussed to explain hypermetrical examples with potential, yet unrealized, morpheme-based rendaku