한국어 수사의문문의 의미와 운율: 음성 산출 및 지각 실험 연구

Abstract

This article investigates Korean rhetorical questions in terms of the interaction between their meanings and prosody. Two different meanings of Korean rhetorical questions were assumed: negative assertion and exclamation. This study addresses three questions: First, how are the meanings and prosody of Korean rhetorical questions related? Second, how are the speaker's emotions and prosody related? Third, what is the role of prosodic features when Korean speakers perceive meanings of rhetorical questions? In the first experiment, participants were instructed to produce both ordinary and rhetorical questions in controlled situations. In the second experiment, participants listened to stimuli produced in the first experiment and answered questions about their interpretation. The results of the first experiment showed that the meanings of rhetorical questions have a significant relationship with prosody, particularly final intonation. The speaker’s attitude was also a critical factor. According to the second experiment, the correlation between the meanings and prosody of rhetorical questions was partly confirmed. Participants had difficulty distinguishing between ordinary and rhetorical questions. However, they had no difficulty interpreting the speaker's attitude.