• Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.71-87
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• 2004

Korean has a pair of voiceless fricatives, whose laryngeal manifestation comes in parallel to stops and affricates with a three-way lexical contrast. Prior phonetic studies by Kagaya (1974), Iverson (1983), and Kang (1999, 2000) point out /s/ is associated with multiple characteristics of the larynx shared with not only the lax but also the aspirated series, whereas /s' / carries a laryngeal distinction typical of the tense consonants. The complex dual nature of /s/ is again supported by a psycholinguistic study by Kang (2004), as /s/ was found to interact with /$c^h$/ (17% of the time) as well as /c/ (57%) in speech errors. In addition, a recent work by Cho and Lee (2003) notes an interesting chain shift case in the acquisition of the fricatives. Although they observed a significant phonological pattern between child English and Korean, Cho and Lee's description of acquiring fricatives is far from being precise from the perspective of phonetics. From a longitudinal study of recorded tapes by two children at 1;7-3;8 and 1;7-2;1 respectively, I found that /s' / was usually substituted into tense noncontinuants in young children's early production as predicted, whereas /s/ having both lax and aspirated-like glottal properties revealed a complicated pattern of substitutions into lax, tense, and aspirated noncontinuants with a varying degree of preference relative to the subjects. The current acquisition study supports the previous claims concerning fricatives in other languages, showing that their acquisition comes after stops. Besides, it also notes that Korean fricatives are subject to a series of phonological processes called stopping, affricating, tensifying and palatalizing during the transitional period of phonological development by young children. Moreover, between the two voiceless types, /s/ was acquired earlier than /s'/ as the unmarked segment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.118-122
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• 2005

Background and Objectives The compensatory articulation not only influences general speech intelligibility, but also prevents precise assessment of the velopharyngeal function. This study was performed to investigate frequently affected phonemes, prevalence and the characteristics of compensatory articulation in the patients with cleft palate having velopharyngeal insufficiency. Material and Method An archival review was taken on 103 cleft palate subjects. Their age ranged from 2.6 to 63 years (mean age of 9.8 years). They were grouped into two : preschool group (n=71) and older patient group (n=32). The prevalence and patterns of compensatory articulation were examined on oral high pressure consonants such as plosives, fricatives and affricates. Results : Compensatory errors were observed in $49.5\%$ of the subjects and were mostly glottal stops with the exception of 4cases who had pharyngeal fricatives in addition to glottal stops. The most frequently substituted phonemes were velar plosives and tense sound. There was no significant difference of prevalence in both groups. However, errors for bilabial and alveolar plosives were more frequently observed in preschool group. Conclusion High prevalence of compensatory articulation observed in both preschool and older age group indicates that their articulation errors tend to remain unless appropriate speech therapy is provided. To improve speech intelligibility of the patients with cleft palate having velopharyngeal insufficiency, it is advisable to address and correct the compensatory articulation errors in their earlier ages.

• Journal of Korean language education
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.37-60
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• 2017

This research has its basis with focus on the way Korean native speakers recognize Chinese Korean-learners' pronunciation. The objective of the study is to lay the cornerstone for establishing effective teaching-learning strategies for the education of the Korean phonetic system. In this study, the results of the experiment are presented which shows how native speakers of Korean identify Chinese Korean-learners' pronunciation of consonants. In the first place, stimulation tones were created from the original utterances of Chinese Korean-learners and seven scripts were made through the Pratt program. In addition, the subjects were asked to choose what the phonetic materials sounded like. The results of the research are represented as the ratio of frequency of Korean native speakers' response to each utterance to the total frequency. In addition, the paired t-test was taken in order to explore any relatedness to the changes in the level of proficiency of the Korean phonetic system, ranging from beginners to advanced learners. The outcome shows that the mistakes which Chinese Korean-learners make in pronouncing the consonants of Korean are relatively well-reflected in Korean native speakers' auditory cognitive reactions. To put it concretely, there is some difficulty in differentiating lax consonants from aspirates in the cases of plosives and affricates, but relatively little trouble with fortes. However, it is revealed that there is also a slight difference in relation to articulatory positions in detailed aspects. To provide an effective teaching method for the Korean phonetic system, it is essential to comprehend learners' phonetic mistakes through the precise analysis of data in terms of 'production.' Also, a more meticulous observation of 'phenomena' must be made through verification from the view of 'reception,' as attempted in this study. A more thorough diagnosis by applying methodology makes it possible to lay the foundation for developing effective teaching-learning strategies for the instruction of the Korean phonetic system. This study has its significance in making such attempts.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.27
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• pp.497-523
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• 2012

Characteristics of the Listening and Pronunciation of Korean Obstruents of Chinese Learners -Based on the Phonetic Experiments Using Kalvin and Praat- This study aims at investigating the characteristics of confrontation in three ways, lax/ fortis/ aspirated consonants, in Korean obstruents through experimental phonetic analysis for the Chinese Korean language learners. On one hand, as a result of comparing Korean and Chinese obstruent systems, there is no big difference regarding the articulatory location. On the other hand, in regards to the articulatory method there is a difference. In a Korean obstruent system, the confrontation presented in three ways by the strength of aspiration. On the contrary, the Chinese obstruent system showed confrontation in two ways by the existence of aspiration. To examine the difficulty of the learners caused by the above-mentioned reason objectively, this paper studied the relationship between input and output of sound through the experimental phonetic analysis such as Kalvin and Praat. To research the input of sound, the listening ability of the learners was examined by 'Choosing Consonant' among the Menu of Kalvin. As a result of that experiment, many errors were shown. They recognized the fortis as lax in the area of affricates and plosives. In the area of fricatives, they recognized affricatives as fricatives. To investigate the output of sound, the section of aspiration and the section of friction of a plosive, an affricate and a fricative in Praat, were expressed numerically. The learners' VOT of lax and affricate represented that lax was pronounced close to the fortis, and the VOT of fricatives was not shown the section of aspiration and friction clearly, and also the result showed that they pronounced a fricative like affricative-aspirated one. The result shows that the learners' pronunciation is related to the listening ability. The consequence is caused by the characteristics of the difference between Korean obstruents and Chinese ones. If the training pronunciation is conducted based on above result, it would be a better methodology in teaching Korean.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.182-187
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• 2007

The present study was to investigate the speech intelligibility of esophageal speech, which is the way that the laryngectomized people who lost their voices by total laryngectomy can phonate by using the airstream driven into esophagus, not trachea. Three normal listeners transcribed the CVVand VCV syllables produced by 10 esophageal speakers. As a result, overall intelligibility of esophageal speech was 27%. Affricates showed the highest intelligibility, and fricatives, the lowest. In the aspect of the place of articulation, palatals were the most intelligble, and alveolars, the least. Most of the aspirated consonants showed a low intelligibility. The consonants in VCV syllables were more intelligible than the ones in CVV syllables. The low intelligibility of esophageal speakers is due to insufficient airflow intake into esophagus. Therefore, training to increase airflow intake, as well as correct articulation training, will improve their low intelligibility.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.7-27
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• 2003

Esophageal Speech uses the esophageal air during phonation. Fluent esophageal speakers frequently intake air in oral communication, but unskilled esophageal speakers are difficult with swallowing lots of air. The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference of acoustic characteristics of vowel and consonants production according to the speech proficiency level in esophageal speech. 13 normal male speakers and 13 male esophageal speakers (5 unskilled esophageal speakers, 8 skilled esophageal speakers) with age ranging from 50 to 70 years old. The stimuli were sustained /a/ vowel and 36 meaningless two syllable words. Used vowel is /a/ and consonants were 18 : /k, n, t, m, p, s, c, $C^{h},\;k^{h},\;t^{h},\;p^{h}$, h, I, k', t', p', s', c'/. Fundermental frequency (Fx), Jitter, shimmer, HNR, MPT were measured with by electroglottography using Lx speech studio (Laryngograph Ltd, London, UK). 36 meaningless words produced by esophageal speakers were presented to 3 speech-language pathologists who phonetically transcribed their responses. Fx, Jitter, HNR parameters is significant different between skilled esophageal speakers and unskilled esophageal speakers (P<.05). Considering manner of articulation, ANOVA showed that differences in two esophageal speech groups on speech proficiency were significant; Glide had the highest number of confusion with the other phoneme class, affricates are the most intelligible in the unskilled esophageal speech group, whereas in the skilled esophageal speech group fricatives resulted highest number of confusions, nasals are the most intelligible. In the place of articulation, glottal /h/ is the highest confusion consonant in both groups. Bilabials are the most intelligible in the skilled esophageal speech, velars are the most intelligible in the unskilled esophageal speech. In the structure of syllable, 'CV+V' is more confusion in the skilled esophageal group, unskilled esophageal speech group has similar confusion in both structures. In unskilled esophageal speech, significantly different Fx, Jitter, HNR acoustic parameters of vowel and the highest confusions of Liquid, Nasals consonants could be attributed to unstable, improper contact of neoglottis as vibratory source and insufficiency in the phonatory air supply, and higher motoric demand of remaining articulation due to morphological characteristics of vocal tract after laryngectomy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2010

Backgrounds and Objects: Carcinoma of the tongue is the most common cancer of the oral cavity. A primary treatment strategy includes surgery and/or radiotherapy. Resection of the tongue often results in speech dysfunction, which depends on the site and extent of resection, type of reconstruction, and the mobility of remaining tongue. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of articulation errors that were resulted from the partial glossectomy without free flap reconstruction. Materials & Method : Articulation evaluations including speech intelligibility and percent of correct consonants (PCC) were performed for 24 patients who underwent partial glossectomy for their T1 or T2 tongue cancer. Mobility of the tongue, size of the resected tongue, and the history of adjuvant radiotherapy were analyzed for their relationship with the results of articulation evaluation. Results: Speech intelligibility score was $6.4{\pm}0.9$ (on 7-point scale) and overall PCC was 96.9%. There were close relationships between the size of resection and limitations in the tongue mobility, especially in "protrusion and elevation (r=-0.687)" and "retroflexion (r=-0.775)". Errors in "alveolar fricatives" and "palatal affricates" were also closely related with the size of resection (r=-0.537 and -0.538, respectively). PCC for "liquid sound" /r/ was 83.2%, which was closely related with the history of radiation therapy. Conclusion : Overall articulatory function was satisfactory in cases of early tongue cancer after partial glossectomy of a limited volume without flap reconstruction. However, the size of resection and the history of radiation therapy were closely related to the limitations in some types of tongue mobility and the resultant articulation errors.