Article

An Exploratory Study of Acoustic Cues in Stop Production in Gangneung Korean

In Young Yang1, Seongseog Park2,
Author Information & Copyright
1Catholic Kwandong University
2Chuncheon National University of Education
Corresponding Author:Professor Department of Foreign Languages National Chiayi University No.85, Wunlong Village, Minsyong Township, Chiayi County, Taiwan E-mail: domo@mail.ncyu.edu.tw

ⓒ Copyright 2023 Language Education Institute, Seoul National University. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Mar 07, 2023 ; Revised: Apr 17, 2023 ; Accepted: Apr 23, 2023

Published Online: Apr 30, 2023

ABSTRACT

This study investigated voice onset time (VOT) in Korean stop consonants and the fundamental frequency (f0) of post-stop vowels in Gangneung Korean (a tonal variety). These aspects were compared with those of Seoul Korean (non-tonal), considering phonation types, place of articulation, and vowel context. Twenty speakers provided a total of 1,620 speech samples, and 3,240 measurements were taken. Linear mixed effect modeling was conducted using R. The results showed that Gangneung and Seoul speakers produced similar VOTs for aspirated and lenis stops but revealed f0 differences among phonation types despite the gradual loss of pitch accent in young Gangneung Korean speakers. Place of articulation and vowel context effect did not vary significantly between dialects. This paper discusses the implications for the ongoing changes in VOT and f0 in stop productions in tonal languages.

Keywords: Gangneung Korean; Korean stop production; voice onset time; fundamental frequency; tonoexodus; pitch accent language; sound change

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