Ko, Eon-Suk. 2017. The phonology and semantics of expressive lengthening in Korean. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 23.3. 325-347.
Expressive lengthening is a universal process with language-specific variation in its semantic and phonological implementation. This paper suggests that there are two types of expressive lengthening in Korean, i.e. intensification and diffusive lengthening. Intensification augments the core semantic attribute of a word, and its locus of lengthening is the last segment of the initial syllable. Diffusive lengthening, often applied to adjectives and adverbs derived from –ha verbs, yields the effect of spatial and/or temporal sustainment of the semantic property denoted by a word. The target locus for diffusive lengthening is often the stem-final syllable, with some exceptions. I suggest that the locus of expressive lengthening is determined by the semantic intent of the speaker rather than a morphological class. The data on intensification sheds fresh insight on the phonological representation of Korean laryngeal consonants. (Chosun University)