An acoustic and aerodynamic study of stops in tonal and non-tonal dialects of Korean

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigates the acoustic and aerodynamic properties of well&ndashknown three&ndashway distinction of Korean voiceless stops in two dialects, which differ in their tonal systems: non&ndashtonal Seoul Korean (standard Korean) and tonal South Kyungsang Korean (spoken in Southern part of Korea). Several issues are addressed in the current study: (i) the acoustic cues (e.g. VOT, f0, H1&ndashH2) that each dialect mainly uses to distinguish the three Korean stops, (ii) the effect of f0 as a function of distinguishing three stop categories and as a function of distinguishing the High vs. Low tonal contrasts in the tonal South Kyungsang dialect, (iii) dialectal variation in aerodynamic area (e.g., oral airflow, oral air pressure) as well as acoustic area. These issues are examined with 16 Korean speakers, eight Seoul Korean and eight South Kyungsang Korean speakers. Along with the results replicating previous findings, the experimental results report several noteworthy new findings. First, the acoustic and aerodynamic pattern differently in the two dialects; Seoul speakers primarily use f0 as an acoustic cue for three laryngeal gestures of Korean stops, while South Kyungsang speakers are more likely to use VOT as a main acoustic cue. Second, the use of tonal contrasts to distinguish High vs. Low tone for South Kyungsang speakers makes f0 an unreliable acoustic cue for the three Korean stops. Third, the dialectal differences on VOT to mark the three laryngeal distinctions support the notion of the diachronic transition that the VOT difference between the lenis and aspirated stops is decreasing over the past 50 years. Finally, the results of aerodynamic study make it possible to postulate the articulatory state. Hence, based on the acoustic and aerodynamic results, this study suggests the possible phonological representations in the two dialects which differ in their tonal systems.