The phonetic realization of English unstressed vowels produced by Korean advanced learners : A comparative study of English words and English loanwords

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the phonetic realizations of English unstressed vowels produced by advanced Korean learners (KLs) of English compared with English native speakers (NSs) focusing on the comparative study of English words and English loanwords. The result shows that KLs are usually not native-like in producing the English unstressed vowel /ə/ and loanword orthography affects the way the KLs produce /ə/. The vowel quality of the unstressed vowels produced by the KLs is different from that of the NSs. In duration and pitch, KLs show significantly less difference between the stressed and unstressed vowels than do the NSs. The KLs usually have a high pitch in the stressed and the last syllable while the NSs usually produce peak F0 in the stressed syllable. When the KLs have a similar vowel quality with that of the NSs, they produce a shorter duration of the unstressed vowels. However, there is no correlation between the realization of the pitch and the vowel quality in KLs speech.

Phonological Variation in Child-Directed Speech is Modulated by Lexical Frequency

“…( (2004) and Kang et al (2004), have examined variation involving the two words, /k'oc h / 'flower' and /pat h / 'field'. Choi (2004) consulted a total of 1,174 Seoul Korean adult speakers about their actual pronunciations, while Kang et al (2004) consulted 156 Seoul Korean adult speakers about their preferred pronunciations.…”

“…( (2004) and Kang et al (2004), have examined variation involving the two words, /k'oc h / 'flower' and /pat h / 'field'. Choi (2004) consulted a total of 1,174 Seoul Korean adult speakers about their actual pronunciations, while Kang et al (2004) consulted 156 Seoul Korean adult speakers about their preferred pronunciations. In Table 8, we compare the rates of canonical form realization of the two words /k'oc h / and /pat h / in different vowel contexts, as reported in the three studies, including our current study.…”

“…In Table 8, we compare the rates of canonical form realization of the two words /k'oc h / and /pat h / in different vowel contexts, as reported in the three studies, including our current study. 6 Choi (2004) 0.77 0.77 0.88 Kang et al (2004) n.a. 0.5 1 Note.…”

“…Kang et al (2004) report separate results for different age groups, and those shown in the table are from the participants in their 20s and 30s, who are closest in age to the adult participants in the present experiments.…”