Production of English word-final /ɹl/ by Korean learners of English
Hye Jeong Yu (Hanshin University)
Abstract
English has two liquid sounds, /ɹ/ and /l/, whereas Korean uses only one liquid sound,
/l/. Furthermore, English allows for the consonant cluster /ɹl/ in coda position, while
Korean does not permit any consonant clusters. This study investigated the acoustic
characteristics of the English word-final cluster /ɹl/ as produced by Korean learners of
English and compared them with those of native speakers of American English.
Several acoustic parameters were measured, including the duration of vocalic nuclei
containing the /ɹl/ cluster and the preceding vowel, and three formants (F1, F2, and
F3) at specific intervals (5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, and
95%) throughout the vocalic nuclei. While English speakers always produced the two
liquids /ɹ/ and /l/ within the /ɹl/ cluster, Korean learners did not always exhibit them.
Overall, Korean learners produced [ɹ] more frequently, followed by [ɹl] and [l].
Furthermore, a correlation was also found between English proficiency and
production of the /ɹl/ cluster. Korean learners with advanced English proficiency
produced [ɹl] more frequently than those with intermediate English proficiency. In
addition, English speakers tended to produce an ɹ-colored vowel and [l] more
frequently than the sequence [ɹ] and [l]. This pattern was also observed in Korean
learners with advanced English proficiency. While Korean learners at the advanced
English level tended to produce a dark [ɫ] in the /ɹl/ cluster, similar to English
speakers, Korean learners at the intermediate English level did not do so.
Keywords
English liquid, /ɹl/ cluster, formant, dark [ɫ], Korean English learner