Ahn, Miyeon. 2019. Perception of consonantal release: English /l/ and /n/ by Korean listeners. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 25.3. 465-478.

The purpose of this study is to explore Korean-speaking listeners’ sensitivity to consonantal release of English /l/ and /n/, which are optionally released word-finally. We varied the consonants into two conditions – with vs. without release – and asked listeners: (i) to identify an appropriate allomorph; and (ii) to determine the number of syllables. Examining the listeners’ responses for both tasks and their response times, it was found that Korean listeners are sensitive to the presence of consonantal release, which may be responsible for asymmetric loanword adaptation from English and French. (Hankyong National University, Assistant Professor) 

Keywords: English, consonantal release, vowel epenthesis, loanword adaptation, asymmetry