The imitation patterns of adults and children on f0 intervals in North Kyungsang Korean

The present study examines whether pitch range variation in North Kyunsang Korean shows a categorical or continuous function. Specifically, the study is focused on the data imitated by adults and children in the North Kyungsang region. To investigate pitch range variation, the log-produced f0 intervals were measured and statistically analyzed. The results of the study are as follows. First, both the adults' and children's imitations were more categorical than continuous, especially for the HL-LH patterns. For the other pitch accent patterns, such as HH-HL and HH-LH, the curves were continuous or flat for most of the speakers. Second, the children's imitations were poorer than those of the adults. That is, the children's imitative responses were shown as more continuous or flat curves than categorical. For the children, the HL-LH pattern showed a categorical function at the midpoint of the curves, though the shifts were not as distinctive as the adults' data. This implies that the imitative responses of children follow the perceptual and productive trace of adults' speech behavior.