2020.09.12 13:19
Lee, Hyunjung. 2020. An acoustic comparison of phonetic
realization between South Kyungsang Korean-speaking children and adults’
English loanword production. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 26.2. 303-320.
The present study aimed to examine how a recently observed
change in the lexical pitch accent of South Kyungsang Korean is reflected in
the pitch realization of English loanwords by observing young adults’
speech production. The phonetic properties of the lexical pitch accent are
changing in that the peak is delayed and the acoustic distinction is reduced
across accent contrast. Comparing the loanword pitch pattern between
children and young adults, this study also explored age-related variation with
regard to child speakers with shorter exposure to Kyungsang Korean than young
adults. The acoustic analyses indicate that for young adults the loanword pitch
pattern is less likely to be affected by the ongoing pitch change, but is rather
sensitive to syllable weight. On the other hand, the child speakers constantly
showed the peak on the final syllable regardless of syllable weight. The
findings suggest different time schedules for the accent change between loanwords
and native words as well as an age effect on the pitch realization of English
loanwords in South Kyungsang Korean.
Keywords: sound change, Korean, Kyungsang Korean, English
loanwords, child speech