EVALUATION OF MORA-BASED ANDSYLLABLE-BASED TEXT-SETTING BY NATIVESPEAKERS AND LEARNERS OF JAPANESEREBECCA L. STARR
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE, STARR@NUS.EDU.SG

STEPHANIE S. SHIH
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN C ALIFORNIA, SHIHS@USC.EDU

MAY 27, 2018
KEIO UNIVERSITY

THE MORA IN JAPANESE Japanese is a prototypical mora-based language: themora, rather the syllable, is the primary prosodic unit.
 Rhythmic timing depends on mora units(Homma 1981; Port et al. 1987; cf., Beckman 1982).

 Phonological/morphological implications:oe.g., accent placement, compensatory lengthening

kai.zen = [ka]μ[i]μ.[ze]μ[n]μSTARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

2

HOW DO MORAS AND SYLLABLES
COMBINE?
 Moras are units nested within syllables.
 A single syllable in Japanese may consist of a single‘regular’ CV or V mora (e.g., ka).

 A multi-moraic syllable must consist of a regularmora plus one of a small set of ‘special’ mora:
o Ex. 1: coda nasal: kan, [ka]μ[N]μ
o Ex. 2: Vi: kai, [ka]μ[i]μo and others

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 20183

BUT IS THERE A SYLLABLE IN JAPANESE?
 The role of the syllable in Japanese phonology has

been the subject of controversy.
 Some argue that the syllable is unnecessary anddoes not exist in Japanese phonology (Labrune 2012).
 Phonological and psycholinguistic evidence,

however, suggests that the syllable does play a role
(Kubozono 1999; et seq.; Kawahara 2016; a.o.).

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

4

LEXICAL STRATA IN JAPANESE

Major lexical strata in Japanese (Itô and Mester 1999):⚫

Yamato (native Japanese)o⚫

Sino-Japanese (Chinese origin)o⚫

Ex:人間 ningen (‘human’)Foreign (~85% English origin)o⚫

Ex: 好きsuki (‘to like’)

Ex: ベンチ benchi (‘bench’)

Mimetico

Ex: フワフワ fuwafuwa (‘fluffy’)

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

5

LEXICAL STRATA IN JAPANESE Strata characterized by different phonotactics, andphonological rules (Itô and Mester 1999).
oe.g., long a never occurs in Sino-Japanese words.

 Because Chinese and English are syllable-based, isit possible that the syllable is a more salient unit
in the Sino and Foreign strata?
 Alternatively, does widespread knowledge ofEnglish contribute to increased salience of thesyllable in just the Foreign stratum?
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

6

EVIDENCE FROM TEXT-SETTING Text-setting: the pairing of language and music insong.

 Typologically, text-setting makes use of salient

prosodic units particular to a language.

 English: syllables, lexical and phrasal stresses (Halle &Lerdhal 1993; Shih 2008; Hayes 2009; a.o.).
 Cantonese: tonal melodies matched in musicalmelodies (Yung 1991).

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 20187

JAPANESE TEXT-SETTING Text-setting in Japanese has been described as
mora-based (Kubozono 1999; Hayes and Swiger 2008; cf.
Manabe 2009).
o Each mora must receive (at least) one note.

5 sylls, 7 moras: do.ra.go-n bo-o.ru (Dragonball Z theme, 1989)
7 notes:x x x x x x x

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 20188

JAPANESE TEXT-SETTING But, in practice, multi-moraic notes appear

frequently in Japanese songs.
o In these settings, the syllable receives at least one note.

 Many cases of moraic and syllabic settings of thesame word, even within a single song:moraic: sa-n.ta no o.ji.sa-n ga
syllabic: de.mo so.no san.ta wa(I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, 1952, trans. 1962)
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 20189

MAIN RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 What constraints govern moraic vs. syllabic text-

setting variation in Japanese?
 Do Japanese listeners perceive the syllable as an

acceptable segmentation unit in text-setting?
o Is it as acceptable as the mora?

 What about L2 learners of Japanese?

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201810

TWO APPROACHES Corpus study (Starr & Shih 2017)
 Experiment

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201811

CORPUS STUDY: STARR & SHIH (2017)
 Three corpora of Japanese songs compared:

CorpusTypeTime Period

Anime theme songs

nativeLate 1980s – 90s

Disney songs

translated

Late 1980s – 90s

Christmas songs

translated

Late 19th c. – 21st c.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

12

WHY LOOK AT TRANSLATED SONGS?
 Japanese has a lower information density thanEnglish (and many other languages) (Pellegrino et al.
2011).
o It takes longer to say the same thing in Japanese.

 Ex:

Japanese:
English:Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves Sou ai-ri-ba-ba ni wa yon-juu-nin
Scheherazad-ie had a thousand tales mo-no to-u-zo-ku ga i-ta
(Friend Like Me, Aladdin, 1992)
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201813

WHY LOOK AT TRANSLATED SONGS?
 Hypothesis: translation will put pressure on the

text-setting system due to information density
mismatch, thus making syllabic settings more likely.
 This is interesting in itself, and also useful for us, as

it gives us more opportunities to examine what
linguistic environments favor syllabic settings.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201814

CORPUS STUDY: VARIABLES Coda-Nasal
 Vi Long Vowels
 Inter-voiceless-consonant i and u

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201815

CORPUS STUDY: VARIABLES
ExampleMoraicSyllabic

ningenni-n-ge-nnin-gensekai (‘world’)

se-ka-ise-kaihoshii (‘want’)

ho-shi-i

ho-shii

suki (‘like’)sɯ-ki, sɯ̥-kis(ɯ̥ )ki(‘human’)

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201816

CODING METHODOLOGY▪

Excluded:oCode-switching involving two or more consecutive
words in English with different parts of speech.
oEx: “It’s my day”oContent that was spoken rather than sung.

o

Discourse particles like ああ aa.

ooNonsense words for which a stratum could not be
determined.

Mimetic stratum words (not enough for analysis).

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201817

CORPUS STUDY: DISNEY EXAMPLE

18

FINDINGS: DISNEY VS. ANIME% total settings

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

syllabic
moraicdis. anime

dis. anime

dis. anime

dis. anime

Coda-N

Long-VViInter-IU

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

19

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

yamatoInter-IU

sino

foreignVi

sino

foreign

yamatosino

Long V

yamatoCoda Nasal

foreign

yamatosinosyllabic
moraicforeign% total setting

FINDINGS: SETTING BY STRATUM

20

FINDINGS:DISNEY VS. CHRISTMAS VS. ANIMESTARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

21

FINDINGS: STATISTICAL MODELS
Coda Nasal:
FactorEstimate Std. Error(Intercept)-0.204
0.343
Corpus = Anime-1.9440.141
Corpus = Disney-0.2320.355
Strata = Foreign
1.784
0.323
Strata = Sino
0.210
0.299
Word final = Yes-0.135
0.253
N = 368; syllabic = 158; moraic = 210

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018z value
-0.59
-4.69
-0.65
5.51
0.70
-0.53

Pr (>|z|)0.55< 0.0001 ***0.51< 0.0001 ***
0.48
0.59

22

FINDINGS: STATISTICAL MODELSLong V:
FactorEstimate Std. Error(Intercept)-0.5790.509
Corpus = Anime-1.271
0.356
Corpus = Disney-0.09390.306
Strata = Foreign
1.108
0.288
Strata = Sino
-0.181
0.253
Word final = Yes
0.260
0.241
Sonority
0.095
0.177
N = 414; syllabic = 179; moraic = 235
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018z value-1.136-3.56-0.3073.84-0.7141.08
0.54

Pr (>|z|)0.26
0.0003 ***0.76
0.0002 ***
0.48
0.28
0.588

23

FINDINGS: STATISTICAL MODELS
Vi:
FactorEstimate Std. Error(Intercept)-4.385
0.791
Corpus = Anime
1.227
0.74
Corpus = Disney
2.103
0.713
Strata = Foreign
1.152
0.515
Strata = Sino
0.662
0.300
Word final = Yes
0.201
0.312
Is ai? = Yes
1.002
0.382
N = 381; syllabic = 72; moraic = 309
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018z value
-5.55
1.66
2.95
2.24
2.21
0.65
2.63

Pr (>|z|)< 0.0001 ***0.0971 .
0.0032 **0.0253 *0.0272 *0.51820.0087 **24

FINDINGS: STATISTICAL MODELSInter-i/u
FactorEstimate Std. Error(Intercept)-6.50430.9753
Corpus = Anime
0.02910.7444
Corpus = Disney
1.58820.6677
Strata = Foreign
2.94820.5501Strata = Sino
0.53300.4868Good cluster? = Yes 3.7177
0.7254
Devoiced vowel = u -0.1214
0.4214
N = 381; syllabic = 72; moraic = 309
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018z value
-6.67
0.04
2.38
5.36
1.09
5.12
-0.29

Pr (>|z|)< 0.0001 ***0.969
0.017 *
< 0.0001 ***0.274< 0.0001 ***
0.773

25

FINDINGS: CHANGE OVER TIME IN
CHRISTMAS CORPUS

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201826

CORPUS STUDY: KEY FINDINGS
 While all variables show instances of syllabic setting,some are more likely to receive syllabic settings.
oCoda N and Long V particularly likely to receive syllabic
settings.

 Syllabic settings most likely in Foreign stratum, for all

four variables.
o

For 3 of 4 variables, Foreign contrasts with Sino-Japanese andYamato. For Vi, Foreign & Sino contrasts with Yamato.

o

Most likely explanation is knowledge of English.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201827

CORPUS STUDY: KEY FINDINGS
 Syllabic settings more likely in translated songs thanin native songs.

o As predicted, information density mismatch puts pressure

on the system.

 When time period is accounted for, Disney &Christmas corpus (translated) pattern together,
contrasting with anime corpus (native).
o Consistent with previous work indicating that syllabic
setting is becoming more frequent (Tanaka 2000).

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201828

BUILDING ON THESE FINDINGS A corpus study can tell us what trained composers

and lyricists prefer to do.
 But, what about ordinary Japanese speakers?
 And what about L2 Japanese learners, who havenot grown up speaking a mora-based language?
o Can they acquire a new prosodic system?

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201829

EXPERIMENT RESEARCH QUESTIONS How do native Japanese speakers rate moraic vs.

syllabic settings?

 Do native speakers show a preference for syllabic

settings for Foreign stratum words relative to otherwords?
o Does this vary depending on their exposure to English?

 Do native speakers show a preference for syllabic

settings for certain segments (e.g., coda nasal)?

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201830

EXPERIMENT RESEARCH QUESTIONS Do L2 learners of Japanese match the text-setting

intuitions of native speakers?
o Does their level of experience with the language make adifference?
o Does their own native language make a difference?

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201831

METHODOLOGY: VOCALOID
 Creating experimental stimuli involving multiple

sung arrangements presents a challenge.
 Yamaha’s Vocaloid software allows for the

production of synthesized sung Japanese.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201832

METHODOLOGY: EXPERIMENT DESIGN Linguistic variables:o Coda Nasal (e.g., minto)o Vi (limited to ai) (e.g., gaido).

 Strata: Foreign vs. Sino-Japaneseo Not possible to make minimal pairs with Yamatoo Selected 10 near-minimal pairs.
▪ Ex: ベンチbenchi / 便宜 bengi

 Five-note melodies created using common chord

progressions.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201833

METHODOLOGY: EXPERIMENT DESIGN Settings:
o Mora:mi-n-to da-yo

o Syllable:

min-to da-yo-ne

o Split Syllable (melisma): mi-in-to da-yoo Bad 1 (too small):m-in-to da-yoo Bad 2 (too large):

mi-i-i-i-intodayo

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201834

PREDICTIONS Native speakers:oWill rate Moraic highestoWill prefer Syllabic over Split-Syllabic▪ Syllabic: (min-to da-yo-ne)▪ 6 moras for only 5 notes. Since there is no moraic solution, listeners

will be okay with syllabic solution.
▪ Split-Syllabic: (mi-in-to da-yo)▪ 5 moras for 5 notes, but arrangement is non-moraic anyway. Turns

short vowel into long vowel.
oBoth syllabic settings will be preferred over the “bad” settings,
which do not correspond to any proposed prosodic unit.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

35

PREDICTIONS Native speakers:o Participants who use English frequently will give higher

ratings to syllabic settings, particularly for Foreign stratum
words.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

36

PREDICTIONS Learners:o Beginners will rate Moraic, Syllabic and Split-Syllabic

settings equally.
▪ While learners will quickly absorb the novel phenomenon ofmoraic settings in Japanese songs, it will take much longer torealize that syllabic settings are dispreferred.
o Will give lower ratings to Coda Nasal than Vi in the

Moraic setting (e.g., mi-n-to vs. ga-i-do).
▪ Coda nasals do not occur as independent units in the native

languages of our learners (primarily English and/or Mandarin).
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

37

PREDICTIONS Variables and lexical strata:o If judgments follow corpus pattern, Vi rating will not differ

between Foreign & Sino strata, while Coda-N will receive
more positive ratings for Foreign stratum.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201838

METHODOLOGY: TASK DESIGN Motsu-kun is learning to arrange lyrics to a melody.

Help him improve by rating his work!

ミントだよね(minto dayone)• Asked to rate on four-point
Likert scale.
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201839

PARTICIPANTS
 Survey conducted online using Qualtrics
 97 native Japanese speakers
o Asked for frequency of English use 30 L2 Japanese learnerso Asked for native language(s), length of Japanese study Data analyzed using linear mixed-effects modeling

via lmerTest in R, with participant and word as
random effects.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

40

FINDINGS
Rating (higher more positive)

Rating by setting and speaker status
3
2.5
2

1.5
1
0.5
0
MoraicSyllabic

Interm. Learner (1-3 yrs)
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

Split-Syllabic
Adv. Learner (>3 yrs)

Bad
Native41

FINDINGS: RATINGS CONSISTENTOVERALL WITH EXPECTATIONS
Rating (higher more positive)

Rating by setting and speaker status
3
2.5
2

1.5
1
0.5
0
MoraicSyllabic

Interm. Learner (1-3 yrs)
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

Split-Syllabic
Adv. Learner (>3 yrs)

Bad
Native42

FINDINGS: NATIVE SPEAKERS GENERALLY
MORE CAUTIOUS ON TASK
Rating (higher more positive)

Rating by setting and speaker status
3
2.5
2

1.5
1
0.5
0
MoraicSyllabic

Interm. Learner (1-3 yrs)
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

Split-Syllabic
Adv. Learner (>3 yrs)

Bad
Native43

FINDINGS: INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS
Significant fixed effects:
EffectEst.

Std. Error

df

t

p

Syll. vs. Split-syll. -1.10510

0.52584

54.24-2.1020.040250 *Syll. vs. Bad-1.03678

0.4575655.28-2.2660.027394 *Split syll.: native
English speaker

1.654250.61072

52.95

2.709

0.009079 **STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

44

FINDINGS: INTERM. LEARNERS: ENGLISH
SPEAKERS LOVE MELISMA (SPLIT-SYLL.)
Rating (higher more positive)

Intermediate learner ratings by English background
3
2.5
2

1.5
1
0.5
0
moraicsyll.

Native English speaker
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

split-syll.

bad

Not Native English speaker
45

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS:INTERMEDIATE LEARNERS As predicted, while intermediate learners have figuredout that moraic settings are acceptable in Japanese, they
have not yet learned that syllabic settings are
dispreferred.
This effect may be limited to native English speakers: morediverse learner pool needed.
o Ratings very high among native English speakers for melisma(extending vowel over more than one notes), which iscommon in English-language pop music.
o Surprisingly, ratings unaffected by nasal vs. Vi or Foreign

vs. Sino-Japanese stratum.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

46

FINDINGS: ADVANCED LEARNERS
Significant fixed effects:
EffectEst.

Std. Error

df

t

p

Syll. vs. Moraic

0.28260.1619225-10.855

0.08221 .

Syll. vs. Split-syll. -0.2826

0.1619225-1.7460.08221 .

Syll. vs. Bad-1.52170.1402225-10.855<.0001***Native Chinese
speaker

0.38080.1075225

3.543

0.00048 ***STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201847

CHINESE SPKRS MORE POSITIVE AT EVERYSTEP: MAYBE THEY LOVE VOCALOID?
Rating (higher more positive)

Advanced learner ratings by Chinese background
3
2.5
2

1.5
1
0.5
0
moraicsyll.

Native Chinese speaker
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

split-syll.

bad

Not Native Chinese speaker48

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS:ADVANCED LEARNERS
 Advanced learners (>3 years of Japanese study) areapproaching native speaker judgment levels.
 Native Chinese speakers (generally from Singapore)show more positivity on the task overall, unrelated tolexical stratum, setting type, etc.
 Unlike for intermediate learners, no effect here ofbeing a native English speaker.
 Again, no effect of lexical stratum or nasal vs. Vi.
oHowever: if we consider all learners in a single model, Vi items
do receive higher ratings than nasal items in the moraic setting,as predicted.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

49

FINDINGS: NATIVE SPEAKERS
Significant fixed effects:
EffectEst.

Std. Error

df

t

p

Syll. vs. Moraic

0.30772

0.08469

856.2

3.633

0.000296 ***Syll. vs. Split-Syll. -0.27685

0.08471855.8-3.2680.001125 **Syll. vs. Bad-0.78452

0.07337856.9-10.693<.0001 ***Phon Vi-0.13709

0.07152

17.30000 -1.917

0.071876 .

Note: Split-syll. rating also significantly better than Bad (p < .0001) when model is releveled.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

50

FINDINGS: NATIVE SPKR RATINGS FOR
NASAL VS.VI CONTRARY TO PREDICTIONS
Rating (higher more positive)

Native speaker ratings for Coda Nasal vs. Vi
3
2.5
2

1.5
1
0.5
0
moraicSTARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018syll.

split-syll.

Coda Nasal

Vi

bad
51

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS:NATIVE SPEAKERS
 As predicted, a clear ranking of settings among native

speakers:
moraic < syllabic < split-syllabic < bad Contrary to findings of corpus study, however, there isno effect of lexical stratum, and coda nasal is rated as
more acceptable in moraic, not syllabic settings.
oThis is also contrary to prediction of sonority.

 No effect found for frequency of speaking English.
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201852

EXPERIMENT: KEY FINDINGS
 While moraic settings are slightly preferred, native

speakers rate syllabic settings as acceptable.
 Native speakers show a preference for a one-to-one
correspondence between note and prosodic unit.
 No evidence for stratum effect, English exposure
effect, or sonority effect.
 Learners with 1-3 years of study acquire knowledge ofmoraic setting, but lag in dispreference for syllabic
settings.
oEven at the advanced level, learners don’t look quite likenative speakers in their judgments.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201853

CONCLUSIONS Both corpus and experimental evidence support

the view that the syllable is an active prosodic unit
in Japanese.
o Moreover, the salience of the syllable appears unrelated tofrequency of English use.
 L2 learners of Japanese demonstrate quick

acquisition of novel prosodic categories, but slow
re-ranking of prosodic segmentation preferences.
STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

54

FUTURE DIRECTIONS Further work needed to account for discrepancies

between corpus study and experimental findings.

oIs the preference for syllabic settings for Foreign stratum
words limited to expert text-setters?

oWhy doesn’t more frequent exposure to syllabic settingsfor coda nasal in Japanese songs result in higher ratings
in this experiment?

 Additional data collection needed to identify when

beginner Japanese learners first acquire knowledgeof moraic text-setting.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 201855

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 Thanks to our participants, and to the many

individuals who helped us distribute the survey: Mie
Hiramoto, Kazuko Matsumoto, Kevin Heffernan, Elin
McCready, Wilkinson Gonzales, Jun Jie Lim, Zhenhao
Guo, Abigail Starr, the NUS Japanese Studies Society,and others.

 Thanks again to Shigeto Kawahara for organizing

this conference, and for his helpful comments on
this project over the years.

STARR & SHIH, MAY 27, 2018

56

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Hayes, Bruce. 2009. Textsetting as Constraint Conflict. In Jean-Louis Aroui and Andy Arleo (ed).
Towards a Typology of Poetic Forms: From language to metrics and beyond. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins. 43-62.
Hayes, Bruce and Tami Swiger. 2008. Two Japanese Children’s Songs. MS. University of California,
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Homma, Yayoi. 1981. Durational relationship between Japanese stops and vowels. Journal of
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REFERENCES (CONT’D)
Kubozono, Haruo. 1999. Mora and Syllable. In Natsuko Tsujimura (ed). The Handbook of Japanese
Linguistics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. 31-61.
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Manabe, Noriko. 2009.Western Music in Japan: The evolution of styles in children’s songs, hip-hop, andother genres. Ph.D. dissertation, CUNY Graduate Center.
Pellegrino, Francois, Coupe, Christophe, and Egidio Marsico. 2011. A Cross-Language Perspectiveon Speech Information Rate. Language. 87(3). 539-558.

Shih, Stephanie S. 2008. Text-Setting: a (musical) analogy to poetic meter. Paper presented at New
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Yung, Bell. 1991. The Relationship of Text and Tune in Chinese Opera. In J. Sundberg; L. Nord; andR. Carlson (ed). Music, Language, Speech, and Brain. London: Macmillan. 408-418.
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