Physiologic Phonetics for Korean Stop Production

한국어 자음생성의 생리음성학적 특성

  • Hong, Ki-Hwan (Department of Otolaryngology-HNS, College of Medicine, Chonbuk National University) ;
  • Yang, Yoon-Soo (Department of Otolaryngology-HNS, College of Medicine, Chonbuk National University)
  • 홍기환 (전북대학교 의과대학 이비인후과학교실) ;
  • 양윤수 (전북대학교 의과대학 이비인후과학교실)
  • Published : 2006.12.15

Abstract

The stop consonants in Korean are classified into three types according to the manner of articulation as unaspirated (UA), slightly aspirated (SA) and heavily aspirated (HA) stops. Both the UA and the HA types are always voiceless in any environment. Generally, the voice onset time (VOT) could be measured spectrographically from release of consonant burst to onset of following vowel. The VOT of the UA type is within 20 msec of the burst, and about 40-50 msec in the SA and 50-70 msec in the HA. There have been many efforts to clarify properties that differentiate these manner categories. Umeda, et $al^{1)}$ studied that the fundamental frequency at voice onset after both the UA and HA consonants was higher than that for the SA consonants, and the voice onset times were longest in the HA followed by the SA and UA. Han, et $al^{2)}$ reported in their speech synthesis and perception studies that the SA and UA stops differed primarily in terms of a gradual versus a relatively rapid intensity build-up of the following vowel after the stop release. Lee, et $al^{3)}$ measured both the intraoral and subglottal air pressure that the subglottal pressure was higher for the HA stop than for the other two stops. They also compared the dynamic pattern of the subglottal pressure slope for the three categories and found that the HA stop showed the most rapid increase in subglottal pressure in the time period immediately before the stop release. $Kagaya^{4)}$ reported fiberscopic and acoustic studies of the Korean stops. He mentioned that the UA type may be characterized by a completely adducted state of the vocal folds, stiffened vocal folds and the abrupt decreasing of the stiffness near the voice onset, while the HA type may be characterized by an extensively abducted state of the vocal folds and a heightened subglottal pressure. On the other hand, none of these positive gestures are observed for the SA type. Hong, et $al^{5)}$ studied electromyographic activity of the thyroarytenoid and posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscles during stop production. He reported a marked and early activation of the PCA muscle associated with a steep reactivation of the thyroarytenoid muscle before voice onset in the production of the HA consonants. For the production of the UA consonants, little or no activation of the PCA muscle and earliest and most marked reactivation of the thyroarytenoid muscle were characteristic. For the SA consonants, he reported a more moderate activation of the PCA muscle than for the UA consonant, and the least and the latest reactivation of the thyroarytenoid muscle. Hong, et $al^{6)}$ studied the observation of the vibratory movements of vocal fold edges in terms of laryngeal gestures according to the different types of stop consonants. The movements of vocal fold edges were evaluated using high speed digital images. EGG signals and acoustic waveforms were also evaluated and related to the vibratory movements of vocal fold edges during stop production.

Keywords