Download - Phonetics Paper
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
1/17
Joy Shapley
LING 401 Term Paper
11/09/10
The Phonetic System of Korean
Consultant
For this project, I interviewed a native speaker of Korean named Young-In
Han, who prefers to go by her Americanized name Karen. Karen is an eighteen-
year-old female student currently attending Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.
She is fluent in Korean, despite having been born in New York and having lived
in the United States her whole life. At home she speaks Korean about ninety
percent of the time, since her parents, who were both born in Seoul, are more
comfortable with that language. When asked if her spoken Korean differs in any
way from that of her relatives who remained in Korea, she replied that she is
often told she has an American accent, despite not being able to detect any
difference herself. She was also aware of one symbol, , which is pronounced
// by her grandparents and /we/ by everyone [her] parents age and younger
even [her] Korean cousins. She and her parents speak the Seoul dialect,
identical to the broadcast journalism standard in South Korea. Korean is spoken
by around 78 million people in total, but North and South Koreans speak two
separate dialects, which differ more in intonation and stress rather than
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
2/17
vocabulary. Karen has never taken a linguistics class and is largely unfamiliar
with linguistic terms.
Data Collection
I conducted my initial interview with Karen over the video chat program
Skype, using Wiretap Studio software to record the conversation. Using the
Swadesh list, I gathered a database of recordings of one hundred Korean words
and their English equivalents. In order to gain enough examples of some of the
less commonly occurring phonemes, I asked her to provide additional words
containing each sound. I analyzed certain consonants in Praat to better establish
the differences between them. During her fall break, I was able to meet with
Karen in person to conduct a follow-up interview, and continued corresponding
with her over email to clear up any confusion I had about the sound system of
Korean.
Syllable Structure
The Korean writing system, called Hangeul ([hangl]), reflects the
languages syllable structure, which is minimally a single vowel and maximally
C(g)VC, with g representing one of two glides (/w/ or /j/). In cases where a CVC
syllable precedes a V or VC syllable, the final consonant of the former is
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
3/17
pronounced as if it were the initial consonant of the latter. This affects the rhythm
of speech and the duration of certain consonants.
Vowels
Korean has two types of vowels; monophthongs and diphthongs in which
the first sound is a glide. Unlike Japanese, Korean has no length distinction for
vowels. Homonyms like [il] (work) and [il] (one) are pronounced identically.
Table 1: Monophthongal Vowels of Korean
Vowel Example word Translation
/a/ [na] I
/u/ [dul] two
// [s] stand
/o/ [son] hand
/i/ [uri] we
// [hangl] script
// [nt] when
/e/ [set] three
The vowel represented by the hangul(usually transcribed as eo,
represented as // in Table 1) differs in pronunciation subtly based on context.
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
4/17
When it precedes a consonant, as in the word beol, it is clearly //, but becomes
// when pronounced in isolation or as the final phoneme in a syllable. The
subject insisted that she could hear no difference between the two sounds. It is
my opinion that, although a drastic change in the vowel would change the
meaning of a word, the consonants are much more important. Stress in Korean is
related to syllable weight rather than relative position, so a consonant-initial
syllable will always be stressed more than one that is vowel-initial.
Each of the eight simple vowels in Table 1 can be combined with a glide to
form a diphthong. The vowels /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/, //, and // can combine with /j/ to
make /je/, /ja/, /jo/, /ju/, /j/, or /j/. Likewise, /w/ can be appended to /a/, /e/, /i/, or
//. Although these would be considered consonant-vowel pairs in English, due to
historical orthographical constraints and the ability of /ja/, /wi/, etc. to follow
consonants, they are placed in the vowel category. These compounds are the
only kind of diphthongs to exist in Korean. Although neighboring vowels do occur
occasionally, as in the word [gakaun] (near), a blank, silent consonant is
inserted between them to ensure that they occur in distinct syllables. No
consonant in Korean can be preceded by another consonant within the same
syllable, but a word like [gwi] (ear) is perfectly legitimate. The word [sontop]
(fingernail) contains two syllables, [son] and [top], which are written in separate
hangul blocks.
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
5/17
Plosives and Affricates
Korean consonants are comprised of twelve stops, one affricate, one
liquid, and three fricatives. The fricative /
/ never appears except as part of the
affricate /t/. Three of the stops are the nasals /m/, /n/, and //. The remaining
nine are divided into three categories: plain or voiced (depending on the
position), aspirated, and tense consonants. In discussing the differences
between these three categories of consonants, I have grouped the variations of
/t/ in with those of the plosives, but separated /s/ and /s*/, as I have concluded
that they vary enough to warrant individual discussion.
Table 2: Korean Consonants
Nasal Plosive Affricate Fricative Liquid
Bilabial m p, p, p*
Alveolar n t, t, t* s, s* l / r
Alveolo-palatal t, t, t*
Velar k, k, k*
Glottal h
Pronunciation of the plain plosives (/p/, /t/, and /k/) varies based on their
position within the word. In syllable-initial position, or syllable-final when
preceding a vowel, /p/, /t/, and /k/ acquire voicing, becoming /b/, /d/, and /g/.
When in syllable-final position and followed directly by another plosive or a
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
6/17
fricative, they are always voiceless. An example of this is found in the word for
stick ([makdgi]). The first appearance of the velar plosive is /k/ due to its
proximity to /d/, which remains voiced. The last syllable of the word is
pronounced [gi], not [ki], because the stop is in initial position. The presence of a
preceding nasal appears to affect these plosives in syllable-initial position on a
word-by-word basis. In [sontop], above, it is clearly voiceless, but the /d/ in
[tudan] (to break) is not.
The rule governing the voicing of // is slightly different. Unlike the others,
it is always syllable-initial, and thus is always voiced // except when found at
the very beginning of a word. This measure seems to be for the purpose of
further distinguishing /t/ from its aspirated counterpart //. Certain words given
greater emphasis in conversation, such as [] (I, formally) are always voiced
regardless of consonant position. All plain plosive and affricate stops become
unreleased stops in word-final position. Figure 1 below acoustically compares the
phonemes /d/ and /t/ found in [dathin] (closed), and the phoneme /t/ found at the
end of the word [git], collar.
As can be seen from the data below, the first consonant in [dathin] shows
characteristics of voicing, while the second shows a complete closure of the /t/
until its release immediately before /h/. In [git], the stop is never released, but
rather becomes swallowed by the previous vowel.
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
7/17
Figure 1: Comparison of /d/, medial /t/, and final /t /
Korean also distinguishes between aspirated and unaspirated stops. Due
to the large number of homophones in the language, and the large variation in
pronunciation between speakers, it can be difficult to tell whether two sounds are
allophonic. However, unlike the allophones of /t/, aspiration creates minimal
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
8/17
pairs, as with the adjectives [-kn] (big) and [-kn] (near). Below is an
acoustic comparison of these two words.
Figure 2: Comparison of /k/ and /k/
The data shows that both varieties appear to be more aspirated than an
unaspirated English plosive from the same place of articulation would have been.
The plain [k], in fact, exhibits a large burst of aspiration at around the 3
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
9/17
millisecond mark. The difference between them lies in the aspirated plosives
greater overall duration (10.5 milliseconds vs. 8 milliseconds) and its continual
aspiration throughout. Consonant type also appears to affect the following vowel.
The vowel after the plain consonant has a longer duration and is more open than
the one following the aspirated consonant.
Aspirated consonants are rarer than the other two types and seem to be
found most commonly in words of foreign origin. The words [bot] (boat),
[tokolrit] (chocolate), [sndwiti] (sandwich), and [piano] (piano) all
contain aspirated consonants. This is not a universal rule: [kola] and [us]
(cola and juice) are lacking aspiration, but when asked to think of additional
examples the consultant could only come up with these two. It appears that
Korean uses aspiration to represent what would be simple voicelessness in
borrowed words.
The third type of uniquely contrasted consonant in Korean is not found in
English. The phonemes /p*/, /t*/, /t*/, and /k*/ are identical to their weak
counterparts in terms of place of articulation, but are not allophonic to them.
When explaining how to pronounce sounds from this category, the consultant
instructed me to open the mouth slightly more and tighten the jaw. The actual
feeling of tightness is due to a greater constriction at the glottis. (The asterisk
was the only symbol I could find to represent this quality. There is no official
symbol for strong or tense articulation, and several unofficial ones.) It was not
immediately clear whether the tense consonants were also aspirated, or whether
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
10/17
the additional articulatory energy required to form them created the illusion of
aspiration.
Figure 3: Comparison of /p*/ and /p/
Here I have compared two more words, the first ([baram], meaning wind)
containing a plain plosive, and the second ([p*alda], meaning [to] suck)
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
11/17
containing a tense plosive. The tense /p*/ exhibits a significant burst of
aspiration, appearing nearly equal to its following /a/, while the /b/ is voiced. /p*/
is also much shorter in duration than /b/, probably a result of the increased glottal
constriction. It seems that both vocal intensity and aspiration are factors that
distinguish tense stops from lax ones in Korean.
Nasals
Nasals in Korean are pronounced similarly to their English counterparts
/m/, /n/, and //. All three are found in syllable-final position, but // can never be
syllable-initial, just as in English. Plosives before nasals are always assimiliated
into clusters of nasals, due to low sonorance; for example, /atma/ would become
/anma/, and /apma/ would become /amma/. The plosive does not necessarily
become identical to the nasal which follows it, but instead retains its place of
articulation. Thus, /k/ would become // before a nasal, regardless of whether it
was /m/ or /n/. This reduction occurs regardless of the class to which the plosive
belongs: plain, aspirated, or tense.
Liquids
Korean has one liquid, /l/, with several allophones. In initial position it can
be either /l/, or the alveolar approximant //. The latter is apparently very rare and
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
12/17
only found in words borrowed from English. In final position, or medially before a
consonant, it becomes /l/. This is seen in the words [p*algansk] (red [color]),
and [s*al] (rice). Between vowels, the sound becomes an indeterminate alveolar
flap which varies freely between centrality and laterality. It appears very similar to
the sound appearing in Japanese words like [miu], which to the ears of English
speakers seems somewhere halfway between /l/ and //. In addition to the
assimilation of plosives before nasals detailed above, Korean has a second type
of consonant cluster reduction with nasals before liquids. In most cases, /n/ or /m/
paired with /l/ will result in /ll/, although the preceding vowel will retain some
nasalization.
Korean pronunciation rules must occasionally be adjusted for foreign
borrowings, especially English, which has a much different CV structure. For
example, the borrowed word for chocolate, [tokolit], was the only given
example of /r/ in a non-intervocalic position. In this case, although the original
word in English does not have an // sound in that position, if there had been no
consonant in that position, /l/ would have been between two vowels, /o/ and /i/,
and the pronunciation would have become more /r/-like. The insertion of //
before the final syllable prevents this confusion and helps retain more of the
original sound.
Fricatives
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
13/17
In contrast to the large number of fricatives found in other languages,
including English, Korean has only three. These are the glottal fricative /h/ and
the alveolar fricative /s/, along with the latter under tense articulation, /s*/. The
glottal fricative never appears at the end of words. However, it is occasionally
found in syllable-final position if the syllable following it begins with a vowel. /h/ is
never immediately followed by a consonant. After voiced consonants, /h/ is
greatly reduced or even silent in normal speech, unless the word is emphasized
for another reason.
While the individual phonemes /s/ and /h/ may occur in tandem, under the
already established conditions for consonant clusters, they do not combine to
create the postalveolar fricative //. This is a common mistake in reading
transcriptions of Korean words. In the consultants speech, /s/ becomes the
postalveolar fricative only before the vowel /i/, although this quality is apparently
dependent on the speaker and lack of it will not affect one s ability to be
understood.
In addition to increased glottalic constriction, /s*/ differs from /s/ in tongue
position. /s/ is formed with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, and /s*/
involves greater contact with the middle of the tongue. /s*/ does not show as
much of a difference in vocal energy as the other tense consonants, but it does
show a burst of energy upon being released, before the onset of the subsequent
vowel. Below is a side-by-side comparison of [son] (hand) and [s*au:da]
(fight), the latter image exhibiting a greater release.
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
14/17
Figure 4: Comparison of /s/ and /s*/
Conclusion
In this paper I have attempted to record and describe as much of the
phonetic system of Korean as possible. However, there are still several aspects
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
15/17
of the language that remain untouched or require further explanation. Koreans
unique three-way stop contrast between plain, aspirated, and tense stops
requires detailed acoustic analysis to properly document, something which is
difficult to accomplish with source material from only one speaker. Korean s
numerous differences from English, including a fixed syllabic structure and
overall lack of fricatives, make it a very interesting language to study. The next
page contains a list of 89 selected transcriptions, including all words directly
examined above.
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
16/17
Transcriptions of Selected Sound Samples
I (informal) [na]
I (formal) []
you [n]
we [uri]
our [urii]
this [igo]
that [go]
who [nugu]
what [mut]
not [anida]
all [ta]
many [manhn]
one [hana]
one [il]
two [dul]
big [kn]
long [gin]
small [agn]
near [kn]
closed [dathin]
sweet [danmat]
woman [aama]
man [aasi]
human[saam]
(to) break [udan]
stick [makdgi]
fingernail [sontop]
ear [gwi]
head [mi]
eye [nun]
nose [ko]
mouth [ip]
tongue [hj]
bird [s]
dog [k]
to suck [p*alda]
forest [sup]
stick [makdgi]
seed [s*i]
leaf [ip]
root [p*ui]
meat [gogi]
skin [pibu]
flower [k*ota]
fish [mulgogi]
meat [gogi]
blood [pi]
snake [bm]
bone [p*j]
collar [git]
hand [son]
knee [mup]
heart [sima]
liver [gana]
sun [h]
moon [dal]
star [bjl]
water [mul]
rain [bi]
river [ga]
wind [baram]
sky [hanl]
smoke [jngi]
mountain [san]
red [p*algansk]
green [toroksk]
black [gmnsk]
day [hau]
night [bam]
good [tohn]
bad [nap*n]
near [gakaun]
far [mn]
left [ornok]
right [oenok]
elephant [kok*iri]
cat [gojai]
boat [bot]
king [wa]
rice [s*al]
chocolate [tokolit]
soup [supu]
sandwich [sndwiti]
piano [piano]
music [mak]
drawing [gim]
painting [juhwa]
daughter [t*a]
wife [an]
-
8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper
17/17
17