Token frequency modulates optional paradigm uniformity in Japanese voiced velar nasalisation

Abstract This article explores the role of token frequency and global prosodic length in conditioning optional paradigm uniformity in Japanese voiced velar nasalisation, with data from two wug -tests carried out with speakers of Tōhoku Japanese. Experiment 1 demonstrates that frequency-conditioning observed in corpus data is reproduced in existing and novel compounds and holds at the level of the speaker. Experiment 2 focuses on a typologically unusual pattern where overall compound length in mora seems to influence nasalisation, a candidate for a ‘counting’ pattern in phonology. We find that instead of overall length, speakers are sensitive to the length of the second member of the compound, undercutting the viability of the mora-counting analysis. We discuss the importance of the results in adjudicating between existing models of how token frequency impacts the phonological grammar and suggest that only theories that allow individual morphemes to exhibit frequency-sensitive behaviour are sufficiently expressive to model the finding.