Acoustic observation for English speakers perception of a three-way laryngeal contrast of Korean stops

Abstract

©2014 Nahyun KwonThis paper was presented at the 44th Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society, 2013, at the University of Melbourne. All papers in the volume have been double blind peer-reviewed. Volume edited by Lauren Gawne and Jill Vaughan.ISBN: 978-0-9941507-0-7While the two-way voicing contrast of English stops can be distinguished by VOT alone, the three-way laryngeal contrast of Korean stops requires additional acoustic parameter, f0, together with VOT for its realization (Chang, 2010; M. Kim, 2004). The distinct acoustic characteristics of the Korean and English stops may create difficulties in English speakers’ discrimination of the non-native Korean contrasts. To confirm this hypothesis, the current study examines English speakers’ discrimination of a three-way laryngeal distinction of Korean stops /p t k/ in the word-initial position of disyllabic minimal pairs. The result supports the hypothetical link between acoustic patterns and perceptual discrimination to a large extent by displaying a relatively low correct discrimination level on the lenis-fortis contrast. This leads to a conclusion that f0 is as important as VOT for non-native listeners to fully perceive the three-way contrast of Korean stops.1/10/201344th Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society, 201