Mora clipping of loanwords in Japanese

要旨

Abstract Loanwords in Japanese undergo a variety of truncation processes, including mora-clipping. Mora-clipping can itself be subdivided into back- (e.g. čokoreeto > čoko ‘chocolate’), fore- (wanisu > nisu ‘varnish’) and mid-clipping (moruhine > mohi ‘morphine’). Although back-clipping is the unmarked process, this paper seeks to answer a major issue as yet unresolved in the literature: at which mora are back-, fore- and mid-clippings typically clipped, and why? Although previous studies have claimed that syllable structure plays a major role, many exceptions remain unexplained.

主題