중세국어 입성에 대하여

Abstract

Ipsoˇng in Middle Korean has been regarded as a characteristic of closed syllables with an unvoiced consonant as a syllable-final consonant. But it has not been clear, what the characteristic of lpsˇng means phonologically. In this paper I discuss the phonological feature of Ipsoˇng in Middle Korean and try to clarify it in terms of the syllable cut prosodies. Ipsoˇng is not a language-specific characteristic, but a representation of an universal prosodic feature. It is interpreted as an abrupt syllable cut and plays an important role in the reorganization of the phonological system from the tonal opposition in Middle Korean to the length opposition in Modern Korean. Prosodic characteristics of the syllable cuts are appropriately described and analysed within the nuclear phonology, e. g. in the synchronic description of Modern German and Hopi, and in the prosodic change in German. It is said that the long vowels in Modern Korean have come from tie syllables with Sangsoˇng in Middle Korean. But there are exceptional cases: From syllables with Ipsoˇng short vowels, not long vowels, have developed despite their Sangsoˇng, and if long vowels have come from the syllables without Sangsoˇng, it is generally the case without Ipsoˇng. They can be well explained in relation to the universal prosodic characteristics of an abrupt syllable cut. These evidences argue for the interpretation of lpsoˇng as an abrupt syllable cut.