한국어 위치동화의 실험음성학적 분석

Abstract

In Korean Phonology, place assimilation is not a regular but optional process. There are two asymmetries in Korean place assimilation based on crosslinguistic patterns. Firstly, a syllable onset can be a trigger but a syllable coda cannot in a consonant sequence. Secondly, according to the place markedness hierarchy (Velar＞labial＞coronal) unmarked place of articulation assimilates to marked one. On the contrary, marked place of articulation does not assimilate to unmarked one. In this paper I analyze to what extent stop triggers influence nasal targets in ‘nasal＋stop’ consonant sequence by an acoustic phonetic experiment which measures the first formant frequency (F1) of target nasals. The experimental research of five male subjects who speak Seoul Korean shows three aspects of Korean place assimilation. First, the place markedness asymmetry holds good for Korean place assimilation. Coronal nasal is disposed to undergo assimilation, but velar and labial are not. Second, according to the place of articulation of a trigger or target, ‘/n/＋labial stop’ among ‘nasal＋stop’ consonant sequences is most likely to undergo assimilation. Finally assimilation shows a variation among subjects. The labialization of /n/ applies more frequently than the velarization of /n/ or /m/ in three subjects. However in two subjects both the labialization and velarization often apply.