음성음운형태론연구 20집 2호 최영선.오미라

Choi, Youngsun and Mira Oh. 2014. 비어두(非語頭) ‘늬’의 구개음화에 대한 음향음성학적 연구. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology and Morphology 20.2. 229-248.

This study aims to investigate phonetic realization of ‘늬’ (/nɨy/) in Korean. Does ‘늬’ (/nɨy/) surface [ni] or [ɲi] in Modern Korean? The ‘ㄴ’of ‘늬’(/nɨy/) has been claimed to be different from the ‘ㄴ’of ‘니’(/ni/) in that the former does not undergo palatalization but the latter does. However, many studies suggested that the ‘ㄴ’of ‘늬’(/nɨy/) also surfaces as palatalized [ɲ] after [ɨy] turns to a monophthong, [i]. This study conducts two production experiments. The first experiment is to find the acoustic cues to distinguish between the palatalized [ɲ] and non-palatalized [n]. The second experiment is to investigate whether the ‘ㄴ’of ‘늬’ (/nɨy/) is palatalized. Two results were found. First, F1 and F2 are crucial acoustic cues in determining whether /n/ undergoes palatalization. Second, ‘늬’ (/nɨy/) is pronounced as [ɲi] not [ni] and no longer an exception to palatalization. These findings will be discussed in light of sound change comparing the rule ordering analysis in Generative Phonology and the constraint reranking-based analysis within the Optimality Theoretic framework. (Chonnam National University)