Phonetics Paper

8/4/2019 Phonetics Paper

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Joy Shapley

LING 401 Term Paper

11/09/10

The Phonetic System of Korean

Consultant

For this project, I interviewed a native speaker of Korean named Young-In

Han, who prefers to go by her Americanized name Karen. Karen is an eighteen-

year-old female student currently attending Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.

She is fluent in Korean, despite having been born in New York and having lived

in the United States her whole life. At home she speaks Korean about ninety

percent of the time, since her parents, who were both born in Seoul, are more

comfortable with that language. When asked if her spoken Korean differs in any

way from that of her relatives who remained in Korea, she replied that she is

often told she has an American accent, despite not being able to detect any

difference herself. She was also aware of one symbol, , which is pronounced

// by her grandparents and /we/ by everyone [her] parents age and younger

even [her] Korean cousins. She and her parents speak the Seoul dialect,

identical to the broadcast journalism standard in South Korea. Korean is spoken

by around 78 million people in total, but North and South Koreans speak two

separate dialects, which differ more in intonation and stress rather than


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vocabulary. Karen has never taken a linguistics class and is largely unfamiliar

with linguistic terms.

Data Collection

I conducted my initial interview with Karen over the video chat program

Skype, using Wiretap Studio software to record the conversation. Using the

Swadesh list, I gathered a database of recordings of one hundred Korean words

and their English equivalents. In order to gain enough examples of some of the

less commonly occurring phonemes, I asked her to provide additional words

containing each sound. I analyzed certain consonants in Praat to better establish

the differences between them. During her fall break, I was able to meet with

Karen in person to conduct a follow-up interview, and continued corresponding

with her over email to clear up any confusion I had about the sound system of

Korean.

Syllable Structure

The Korean writing system, called Hangeul ([hangl]), reflects the

languages syllable structure, which is minimally a single vowel and maximally

C(g)VC, with g representing one of two glides (/w/ or /j/). In cases where a CVC

syllable precedes a V or VC syllable, the final consonant of the former is


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pronounced as if it were the initial consonant of the latter. This affects the rhythm

of speech and the duration of certain consonants.

Vowels

Korean has two types of vowels; monophthongs and diphthongs in which

the first sound is a glide. Unlike Japanese, Korean has no length distinction for

vowels. Homonyms like [il] (work) and [il] (one) are pronounced identically.

Table 1: Monophthongal Vowels of Korean

Vowel Example word Translation

/a/ [na] I

/u/ [dul] two

// [s] stand

/o/ [son] hand

/i/ [uri] we

// [hangl] script

// [nt] when

/e/ [set] three

The vowel represented by the hangul(usually transcribed as eo,

represented as // in Table 1) differs in pronunciation subtly based on context.


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When it precedes a consonant, as in the word beol, it is clearly //, but becomes

// when pronounced in isolation or as the final phoneme in a syllable. The

subject insisted that she could hear no difference between the two sounds. It is

my opinion that, although a drastic change in the vowel would change the

meaning of a word, the consonants are much more important. Stress in Korean is

related to syllable weight rather than relative position, so a consonant-initial

syllable will always be stressed more than one that is vowel-initial.

Each of the eight simple vowels in Table 1 can be combined with a glide to

form a diphthong. The vowels /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/, //, and // can combine with /j/ to

make /je/, /ja/, /jo/, /ju/, /j/, or /j/. Likewise, /w/ can be appended to /a/, /e/, /i/, or

//. Although these would be considered consonant-vowel pairs in English, due to

historical orthographical constraints and the ability of /ja/, /wi/, etc. to follow

consonants, they are placed in the vowel category. These compounds are the

only kind of diphthongs to exist in Korean. Although neighboring vowels do occur

occasionally, as in the word [gakaun] (near), a blank, silent consonant is

inserted between them to ensure that they occur in distinct syllables. No

consonant in Korean can be preceded by another consonant within the same

syllable, but a word like [gwi] (ear) is perfectly legitimate. The word [sontop]

(fingernail) contains two syllables, [son] and [top], which are written in separate

hangul blocks.


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Plosives and Affricates

Korean consonants are comprised of twelve stops, one affricate, one

liquid, and three fricatives. The fricative /

/ never appears except as part of the

affricate /t/. Three of the stops are the nasals /m/, /n/, and //. The remaining

nine are divided into three categories: plain or voiced (depending on the

position), aspirated, and tense consonants. In discussing the differences

between these three categories of consonants, I have grouped the variations of

/t/ in with those of the plosives, but separated /s/ and /s*/, as I have concluded

that they vary enough to warrant individual discussion.

Table 2: Korean Consonants

Nasal Plosive Affricate Fricative Liquid

Bilabial m p, p, p*

Alveolar n t, t, t* s, s* l / r

Alveolo-palatal t, t, t*

Velar k, k, k*

Glottal h

Pronunciation of the plain plosives (/p/, /t/, and /k/) varies based on their

position within the word. In syllable-initial position, or syllable-final when

preceding a vowel, /p/, /t/, and /k/ acquire voicing, becoming /b/, /d/, and /g/.

When in syllable-final position and followed directly by another plosive or a


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fricative, they are always voiceless. An example of this is found in the word for

stick ([makdgi]). The first appearance of the velar plosive is /k/ due to its

proximity to /d/, which remains voiced. The last syllable of the word is

pronounced [gi], not [ki], because the stop is in initial position. The presence of a

preceding nasal appears to affect these plosives in syllable-initial position on a

word-by-word basis. In [sontop], above, it is clearly voiceless, but the /d/ in

[tudan] (to break) is not.

The rule governing the voicing of // is slightly different. Unlike the others,

it is always syllable-initial, and thus is always voiced // except when found at

the very beginning of a word. This measure seems to be for the purpose of

further distinguishing /t/ from its aspirated counterpart //. Certain words given

greater emphasis in conversation, such as [] (I, formally) are always voiced

regardless of consonant position. All plain plosive and affricate stops become

unreleased stops in word-final position. Figure 1 below acoustically compares the

phonemes /d/ and /t/ found in [dathin] (closed), and the phoneme /t/ found at the

end of the word [git], collar.

As can be seen from the data below, the first consonant in [dathin] shows

characteristics of voicing, while the second shows a complete closure of the /t/

until its release immediately before /h/. In [git], the stop is never released, but

rather becomes swallowed by the previous vowel.


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Figure 1: Comparison of /d/, medial /t/, and final /t /

Korean also distinguishes between aspirated and unaspirated stops. Due

to the large number of homophones in the language, and the large variation in

pronunciation between speakers, it can be difficult to tell whether two sounds are

allophonic. However, unlike the allophones of /t/, aspiration creates minimal


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pairs, as with the adjectives [-kn] (big) and [-kn] (near). Below is an

acoustic comparison of these two words.

Figure 2: Comparison of /k/ and /k/

The data shows that both varieties appear to be more aspirated than an

unaspirated English plosive from the same place of articulation would have been.

The plain [k], in fact, exhibits a large burst of aspiration at around the 3


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millisecond mark. The difference between them lies in the aspirated plosives

greater overall duration (10.5 milliseconds vs. 8 milliseconds) and its continual

aspiration throughout. Consonant type also appears to affect the following vowel.

The vowel after the plain consonant has a longer duration and is more open than

the one following the aspirated consonant.

Aspirated consonants are rarer than the other two types and seem to be

found most commonly in words of foreign origin. The words [bot] (boat),

[tokolrit] (chocolate), [sndwiti] (sandwich), and [piano] (piano) all

contain aspirated consonants. This is not a universal rule: [kola] and [us]

(cola and juice) are lacking aspiration, but when asked to think of additional

examples the consultant could only come up with these two. It appears that

Korean uses aspiration to represent what would be simple voicelessness in

borrowed words.

The third type of uniquely contrasted consonant in Korean is not found in

English. The phonemes /p*/, /t*/, /t*/, and /k*/ are identical to their weak

counterparts in terms of place of articulation, but are not allophonic to them.

When explaining how to pronounce sounds from this category, the consultant

instructed me to open the mouth slightly more and tighten the jaw. The actual

feeling of tightness is due to a greater constriction at the glottis. (The asterisk

was the only symbol I could find to represent this quality. There is no official

symbol for strong or tense articulation, and several unofficial ones.) It was not

immediately clear whether the tense consonants were also aspirated, or whether


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the additional articulatory energy required to form them created the illusion of

aspiration.

Figure 3: Comparison of /p*/ and /p/

Here I have compared two more words, the first ([baram], meaning wind)

containing a plain plosive, and the second ([p*alda], meaning [to] suck)


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containing a tense plosive. The tense /p*/ exhibits a significant burst of

aspiration, appearing nearly equal to its following /a/, while the /b/ is voiced. /p*/

is also much shorter in duration than /b/, probably a result of the increased glottal

constriction. It seems that both vocal intensity and aspiration are factors that

distinguish tense stops from lax ones in Korean.

Nasals

Nasals in Korean are pronounced similarly to their English counterparts

/m/, /n/, and //. All three are found in syllable-final position, but // can never be

syllable-initial, just as in English. Plosives before nasals are always assimiliated

into clusters of nasals, due to low sonorance; for example, /atma/ would become

/anma/, and /apma/ would become /amma/. The plosive does not necessarily

become identical to the nasal which follows it, but instead retains its place of

articulation. Thus, /k/ would become // before a nasal, regardless of whether it

was /m/ or /n/. This reduction occurs regardless of the class to which the plosive

belongs: plain, aspirated, or tense.

Liquids

Korean has one liquid, /l/, with several allophones. In initial position it can

be either /l/, or the alveolar approximant //. The latter is apparently very rare and


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only found in words borrowed from English. In final position, or medially before a

consonant, it becomes /l/. This is seen in the words [p*algansk] (red [color]),

and [s*al] (rice). Between vowels, the sound becomes an indeterminate alveolar

flap which varies freely between centrality and laterality. It appears very similar to

the sound appearing in Japanese words like [miu], which to the ears of English

speakers seems somewhere halfway between /l/ and //. In addition to the

assimilation of plosives before nasals detailed above, Korean has a second type

of consonant cluster reduction with nasals before liquids. In most cases, /n/ or /m/

paired with /l/ will result in /ll/, although the preceding vowel will retain some

nasalization.

Korean pronunciation rules must occasionally be adjusted for foreign

borrowings, especially English, which has a much different CV structure. For

example, the borrowed word for chocolate, [tokolit], was the only given

example of /r/ in a non-intervocalic position. In this case, although the original

word in English does not have an // sound in that position, if there had been no

consonant in that position, /l/ would have been between two vowels, /o/ and /i/,

and the pronunciation would have become more /r/-like. The insertion of //

before the final syllable prevents this confusion and helps retain more of the

original sound.

Fricatives


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In contrast to the large number of fricatives found in other languages,

including English, Korean has only three. These are the glottal fricative /h/ and

the alveolar fricative /s/, along with the latter under tense articulation, /s*/. The

glottal fricative never appears at the end of words. However, it is occasionally

found in syllable-final position if the syllable following it begins with a vowel. /h/ is

never immediately followed by a consonant. After voiced consonants, /h/ is

greatly reduced or even silent in normal speech, unless the word is emphasized

for another reason.

While the individual phonemes /s/ and /h/ may occur in tandem, under the

already established conditions for consonant clusters, they do not combine to

create the postalveolar fricative //. This is a common mistake in reading

transcriptions of Korean words. In the consultants speech, /s/ becomes the

postalveolar fricative only before the vowel /i/, although this quality is apparently

dependent on the speaker and lack of it will not affect one s ability to be

understood.

In addition to increased glottalic constriction, /s*/ differs from /s/ in tongue

position. /s/ is formed with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, and /s*/

involves greater contact with the middle of the tongue. /s*/ does not show as

much of a difference in vocal energy as the other tense consonants, but it does

show a burst of energy upon being released, before the onset of the subsequent

vowel. Below is a side-by-side comparison of [son] (hand) and [s*au:da]

(fight), the latter image exhibiting a greater release.


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Figure 4: Comparison of /s/ and /s*/

Conclusion

In this paper I have attempted to record and describe as much of the

phonetic system of Korean as possible. However, there are still several aspects


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of the language that remain untouched or require further explanation. Koreans

unique three-way stop contrast between plain, aspirated, and tense stops

requires detailed acoustic analysis to properly document, something which is

difficult to accomplish with source material from only one speaker. Korean s

numerous differences from English, including a fixed syllabic structure and

overall lack of fricatives, make it a very interesting language to study. The next

page contains a list of 89 selected transcriptions, including all words directly

examined above.


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Transcriptions of Selected Sound Samples

I (informal) [na]

I (formal) []

you [n]

we [uri]

our [urii]

this [igo]

that [go]

who [nugu]

what [mut]

not [anida]

all [ta]

many [manhn]

one [hana]

one [il]

two [dul]

big [kn]

long [gin]

small [agn]

near [kn]

closed [dathin]

sweet [danmat]

woman [aama]

man [aasi]

human[saam]

(to) break [udan]

stick [makdgi]

fingernail [sontop]

ear [gwi]

head [mi]

eye [nun]

nose [ko]

mouth [ip]

tongue [hj]

bird [s]

dog [k]

to suck [p*alda]

forest [sup]

stick [makdgi]

seed [s*i]

leaf [ip]

root [p*ui]

meat [gogi]

skin [pibu]

flower [k*ota]

fish [mulgogi]

meat [gogi]

blood [pi]

snake [bm]

bone [p*j]

collar [git]

hand [son]

knee [mup]

heart [sima]

liver [gana]

sun [h]

moon [dal]

star [bjl]

water [mul]

rain [bi]

river [ga]

wind [baram]

sky [hanl]

smoke [jngi]

mountain [san]

red [p*algansk]

green [toroksk]

black [gmnsk]

day [hau]

night [bam]

good [tohn]

bad [nap*n]

near [gakaun]

far [mn]

left [ornok]

right [oenok]

elephant [kok*iri]

cat [gojai]

boat [bot]

king [wa]

rice [s*al]

chocolate [tokolit]

soup [supu]

sandwich [sndwiti]

piano [piano]

music [mak]

drawing [gim]

painting [juhwa]

daughter [t*a]

wife [an]


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