Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T13:02:04.914Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A diachronic investigation of the vowels and fricatives in Korean: An acoustic comparison of the Seoul and South Kyungsang dialects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2016

Hyunjung Lee  and
Allard Jongman
Hyunjung Lee
Affiliation:
Department of English Education, Kyungnam University, Korea & Department of Linguistics, University of Kansas, USAhyunjunglee123@gmail.com
Allard Jongman
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, University of Kansas, USAjongman@ku.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although the segmental properties of Kyungsang Korean have been known to be distinct from those of standard Seoul Korean, the increased influence of Seoul Korean on the regional variety casts doubt on the homogeneity of the dialect. The current study investigated whether the acoustic properties of the vowels and fricatives in Kyungsang Korean are retained by both younger and older generations through a comparison with Seoul Korean. Results of acoustic analyses with 38 female Korean speakers differing in dialect (Kyungsang, Seoul) and age (older, younger) showed that the younger Kyungsang speakers did not maintain the vowel and fricative features unique to their regional dialect, but rather approximate those of standard Seoul Korean. In the acoustic study of vowels, measures of formant frequencies showed that the younger Kyungsang and Seoul speakers share seven vowels, which result from the split of /ʌ/–/ɨ/ in Kyungsang and the merger of /e/–/ε/ in Seoul Korean. In the acoustic study of fricatives, measures of fricative duration and center of gravity showed that while the two-way fricative contrast is less distinct for older Kyungsang speakers, younger speakers clearly distinguish the two fricatives similar to Seoul speakers. As a consequence of these generational changes in Kyungsang Korean, the six vowels and lack of a fricative contrast exhibited by older generations have given way to seven vowels and a clear distinction between fortis and non-fortis fricatives for younger generations. Based on the similarities in segmental properties between younger Kyungsang and Seoul speakers, it appears that the diachronic sound change is underway in South Kyungsang Korean under the influence of Seoul Korean.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Phonetic Association , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , August 2016 , pp. 157 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © International Phonetic Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, Victoria, Ko, Insung & O'Grady, William. 2004. A palatographic investigation of place of articulation in Korean coronal obstruents. Korean Linguistics 12, 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, Guy, Wikle, Tom, Tillery, Jan & Sand, Lori. 1991. The apparent time construct. Language variation and change 3 (3), 241–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benjamin, Barbaranne J. 1981. Frequency variability in the aged voice. Journal of Gerontology 36 (6), 722–726.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boersma, Paul & Weenink, David. 2010. Praat: Doing phonetics by computer [computer program].Version 5.1.29. http://www.praat.org/.Google Scholar
Chang, Charles B. 2013. The production and perception of coronal fricatives in Seoul Korean: The case for a fourth laryngeal category. Korean Linguistics 15 (1), 7–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, Seung-Eun. 2007. The phonetics and phonology of South Kyungsang Korean tones. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Cho, Taehong, Jun, Sun-Ah & Ladefoged, Peter. 2002. Acoustic and aerodynamic correlates of Korean stops and fricatives. Journal of Phonetics 30, 198–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cho, Taehong, Jun, Sun-Ah, Jung, Seung-Chul & Ladefoged, Peter. 2000. The vowels of Cheju. UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics 98, 81–94.Google Scholar
Cho, Kyutae. 2002. Moeum chekye [Vowel system]. In Kyungnam pangeon yeongu [Study of South Kyungsang dialect]. Kyungnam munhwa yeongu chongseo 3, 49–68. [Seoul: Hankuk munhwasa. In Korean.]Google Scholar
Chung, Yong-hui. 1991. The lexical tone system of North Kyungsang Korean. Ph.D. dissertation, The Ohio State University.Google Scholar
Hillenbrand, James M., Clark, Michael J. & Nearey, Terrance M.. 2001. Effects of consonant environment on vowel formant patterns. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 109 (2), 748–763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holliday, Jeffrey J. 2012. The acoustic realization of the Korean sibilant fricative contrast in Seoul and Daegu. Journal of the Korean Society of Speech Sciences 4 (1), 67–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong, Yunsook. 1991. A sociolinguistic study of Seoul Korean. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Pennsylvania. [Published by Research Center for Peace and Unification of Korean.]Google Scholar
Kang, Soon-Kyong. 1996. Acoustic analysis of South and North Korean vowels. Language Research 32 (1), 1–18.Google Scholar
Kang, Soon-Kyong. 2001. Kyungsang pangeon huseol moeum yunghap hyunsang [Merger of back vowels in Kyungsang dialect]. Dongseomunhwayeonguso 8 (1), 55–73. [In Korean]Google Scholar
Kenstowicz, Michael & Park, Chiyoun. 2006. Laryngeal features and tone in Kyungsang Korean: A phonetic study. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 12 (2), 247–264.Google Scholar
Kim, Chin-Wu. 1968. The vowel system of Korean. Language 44, 516–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, Han-Kon. 1980. An acoustic study of the Cheju dialect in Korean. Eon-Eo (Language) 5 (1), 25–61. [The journal of the Linguistics Society of Korea, Seoul Korea]Google Scholar
Kim, Musik. 1986. Kyungsangdo pangeon // wa /—/ moeumeui silheomeumsunghakcheok yeongu [Experimental phonetic study of /ʌ/ and /ɨ/ in the Kyungsang dialect]. MA thesis, Kyungbuk University. [In Korean]Google Scholar
Kim, No-Ju. 1997. Tone, segment and their interaction in North Kyungsang Korean: A correspondence theoretic account. Ph.D. dissertation, The Ohio State University.Google Scholar
Kong, Eun Jong, Kang, Soyoung & Seo, Misun. 2014. Gender difference in the affricate productions of young Seoul Korean speakers. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 136 (4), EL329–EL335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuak, Chunggu. 2003. Hyundae kukeoeui moeumchekyewa keu pyenhwaeui panghyang [Korean vowel system and the direction of its change]. Kukeohak 41, 59–91. [In Korean]Google Scholar
Lawrence, Michael A. 2013. ez: Easy analysis and visualization of factorial experiments. R package version 4.2-2.Google Scholar
Lee, Goun. 2011. Acoustic characteristics of Korean fricatives and affricates. MA thesis, University of Kansas.Google Scholar
Lee, Hye-Sook. 2008. Pitch accent and its interaction with intonation: Experimental studies of North Kyeongsang Korean. Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University.Google Scholar
Lee, Hyunjung & Jongman, Allard. 2015. Acoustic evidence for diachronic sound change in Korean prosody: A comparative study of the Seoul and South Kyungsang dialects. Journal of Phonetics 50, 15–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, Iksop & Ramsey, Robert S.. 2000. The Korean language. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Lee, Ki-Moon & Ramsey, Robert S.. 2011. A history of the Korean language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindblom, Björn. 1986. Phonetic universals in vowel systems. In Ohala, John J. & Jaeger, Jeri J. (eds.), Experimental phonology, 13–44. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Martin, Samuel E. 1951. Korean phonemics. Language 27, 519–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nevalainen, Terttu & Raumolin-Brunberg, Helena. 2003. Historical sociolinguistics: Language change in Tudor and Stuart England (Longman Linguistic Library). London: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
R Development Core Team. 2011. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. http://www.r-project.org.Google Scholar
Silva, David. 2011. Out of one, many: The emergence of world Korean(s). In James Yoon, Yongsoon Kang, Jae-Young Han & Chung-Kon Shi (eds.), Inquiries into Korean linguistics IV, 9–37. Seoul: Taehaksa.Google Scholar
Sohn, Ho-Min. 1999. The Korean language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Warner, Natasha, Jongman, Allard, Sereno, Joan & Kemps, Rachèl. 2004. Incomplete neutralization and other sub-phonemic durational differences in production and perception: Evidence from Dutch. Journal of Phonetics 32, 251–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Jonathan D. 2007. The phonetic contrast of Korean obstruents. Ph.D dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Yang, Byunggon. 1996. A comparative study of American English and Korean vowels produced by male and female speakers. Journal of Phonetics 24, 245–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoon, Kyuchul. 1999. A study of Korean alveolar fricatives: An acoustic analysis, synthesis, and perception experiment. MA thesis, University of Kansas.Google Scholar