• Title/Summary/Keyword: English Words

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Factors Affecting Changes in English from a Synthetic Language to an Analytic One

  • Hyun, Wan-Song
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.47-61
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    • 2007
  • The purpose of this paper is to survey the major elements that have changed English from a synthetic language to an analytic one. Therefore, this paper has looked at the differences between synthetic languages and analytic ones. In synthetic languages, the relation of words in a sentence is synthetically determined by means of inflections, while in analytic languages, the functions of words in a sentence are analytically determined by means of word order and function words. Thus, Old English with full inflectional systems shows the synthetic nature. However, in the course of time, Old English inflections came to be lost by phonetic changes and operation, which made English dependent on word order and function words to signal the relation of words in a sentence. The major phonetic changes that have shifted English are the change of final /m/ to /n/, the leveling of unstressed vowels, the loss of final /n/, and the decay of schwa in final syllables. These changes led to reduction of inflections of English as well as the loss of grammatical gender. The operation of analogy, the tendency of language to follow certain patterns and to adapt a less common form to a more familiar one, has also played an important role in changing English.

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A Study on English Reduced Vowels Produced by Korean Learners and Native Speakers of English (한국인 영어학습자와 영어원어민이 발화한 영어 약화모음에 관한 연구)

  • Shin, Seung-Hoon;Yoon, Nam-Hee;Yoon, Kyu-Chul
    • Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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    • v.3 no.4
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    • pp.45-53
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    • 2011
  • Flemming and Johnson (2007) claim that there is a fundamental distinction between the mid central vowel [ə] and the high central vowel [?] in that [ə] occurs in an unstressed word-final position while [?] appears elsewhere. Compared to English counterparts, Korean [ə] and [?] are full vowels and they have phonemic contrast. The purpose of this paper is to explore the acoustic quality of two English reduced vowels produced by Korean learners and native speakers of English in terms of their two formant frequencies. Sixteen Korean learners of English and six native speakers of English produced four types of English words and two types of Korean words with different phonological and morphological patterns. The results show that Korean learners of English produced the two reduced vowels of English and their Korean counterparts differently in Korean and English words.

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Teaching Pronunciation Using Sound Visualization Technology to EFL Learners

  • Min, Su-Jung;Pak, Hubert H.
    • English Language & Literature Teaching
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    • v.13 no.2
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    • pp.129-153
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    • 2007
  • When English language teachers are deciding on their priorities for teaching pronunciation, it is imperative to know what kind of differences and errors are most likely to interfere with communication, and what special problems particular first-language speakers will have with English pronunciation. In other words, phoneme discrimination skill is an integral part of speech processing for the EFL learners' learning to converse in English. Training using sound visualization technique can be effective in improving second language learners' perceptions and productions of segmental and suprasegmental speech contrasts. This study assessed the efficacy of a pronunciation training that provided visual feedback for EFL learners acquiring pitch and durational contrasts to produce and perceive English phonemic distinctions. The subjects' ability to produce and to perceive novel English words was tested in two contexts before and after training; words in isolation and words in sentences. In comparison with an untrained control group, trainees showed improved perceptual and productive performance, transferred their knowledge to new contexts, and maintained their improvement three months after training. These findings support the feasibility of learner-centered programs using sound visualization technique for English language pronunciation instruction.

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An Analysis on the Vocabulary in the English-Translation Version of Donguibogam Using the Corpus-based Analysis (코퍼스 분석방법을 이용한 『동의보감(東醫寶鑑)』 영역본의 어휘 분석)

  • Jung, Ji-Hun;Kim, Dong-Ryul;Kim, Do-Hoon
    • The Journal of Korean Medical History
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    • v.28 no.2
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    • pp.37-45
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    • 2015
  • Objectives : A quantitative analysis on the vocabulary in the English translation version of Donguibogam. Methods : This study quantitatively analyzed the English-translated texts of Donguibogam with the Corpus-based analysis, and compared the quantitative results analyzing the texts of original Donguibogam. Results : As the results from conducting the corpus analysis on the English-translation version of Donguibogam, it was found that the number of total words (Token) was about 1,207,376, and the all types of used words were about 20.495 and the TTR (Type/Token Rate) was 1.69. The accumulation rate reaching to the high-ranking 1000 words was 83.54%, and the accumulation rate reaching to the high-ranking 2000 words was 90.82%. As the words having the high-ranking frequency, the function words like 'the, and of, is' mainly appeared, and for the content words, the words like 'randix, qi, rhizoma and water' were appeared in multi frequencies. As the results from comparing them with the corpus analysis results of original version of Donguibogam, it was found that the TTR was higher in the English translation version than that of original version. The compositions of function words and contents words having high-ranking frequencies were similar between the English translation version and the original version of Donguibogam. The both versions were also similar in that their statements in the parts of 'Remedies' and 'Acupuncture' showed higher composition rate of contents words than the rate of function words. Conclusions : The vocabulary in the English translation version of Donguibogam showed that this book was a book keeping the complete form of sentence and an Korean medical book at the same time. Meanwhile, the English translation version of Donguibogam had some problems like the unification of vocabulary due to several translators, and the incomplete delivery of word's meanings from the Chinese character-culture area to the English-culture area, and these problems are considered as the matters to be considered in a work translating Korean old medical books in English.

A Study on the Perception of English Rhythm and Intonation Structure by Korea University Students (대학생의 영어 리듬과 억양구조 인식에 대한 연구)

  • Park Joo-Hyun
    • Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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    • 1997.07a
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    • pp.92-114
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    • 1997
  • This study is aimed to grasp the actual problems of the perception of English rhythm and intonation structure by Korean University students who have studied English in the secondary schools for the past six years, and to establish the systems of English rhythm and intonation structure for the Korean students of English. For this study, the listening test is provided, and 100 students are chosen as the subjects of the study. The noticeable findings are summarized as follows: (1) Koreans perceive the words stress comparatively well in nonsense words, unfamiliar place names, and familiar word. (2) Koreans do not perceive the isochrony of English rhythm well enough. The perception of the sentence stress is very unstable, especially in the sentence involved in polysyllabic words, compound words, and 'emphatic stress' pr 'contrastive stress'(or in the different rhythmic patterns). (3) Koreans do not perceive the nucleus well enough. The perception of the nucleus is more stable in content words than in function words, at the end of a sentence than in the middle of a sentence, and in monosyllabic words than in the polysyllabic words. (4) Koreans do not perceive the boundary(or pause) of intonation group well enough. The perception of the pause is unstable in the long or complex sentence. (5) Koreans discriminate the meaning of English word stress comparatively well, especially in disyllabic words. But the discrimination is somewhat unstable in polysyllabic words and between 'adjective' and 'verb' (6) Koreans' discrimination of the intonation meaning is below the level. Koreans do not perceive the differences of intonation meaning according to the pitch accent or the focus. In conclusion, the writer will propose the procedures for the teaching of rhythm and intonation in the following order: word stress drill longrightarrowstressed and reduced syllables drilllongrightarrowrhythm group drilllongrightarrowthe varying rhythm drilllongrightarrowsentence stress drilllongrightarrownucleus drill longrightarrowintonation group drilllongrightarrowlong utterance drill of more than two intonation group.

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Temporal Structures of Word-initial /s/ Plus Stop Sequences in English Words Produced by Korean Learners

  • Seo, Mi-Sun;Kim, Hee-Sung;Shin, Ji-Young;Kim, Kee-Ho
    • Speech Sciences
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.43-54
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    • 2006
  • The purpose of this study is to examine temporal structures of English words beginning with an /s/ plus stop sequence through production experiments with native speakers of Korean learning English and native speakers of English. According to the results of our production experiment, both a beginner and an advanced group of Korean English learners produced /s/ shorter than a following stop, while the opposite pattern was observed in English native speakers' production. An advanced group of Korean English learners were good at producing a stop after /s/ as unaspirated, but their production of a stop following /s/ was different from English native speakers' production in that the closure duration of the stop was much longer.

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Semantic Processing in Korean and English Word Production (모국어와 외국어 단어 산출의 의미처리 과정)

  • Kim, Hyo-Sun;Choi, Won-Il;Kim, Choong-Myung;Nam, Ki-Chun
    • Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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    • 2005.11a
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    • pp.131-135
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    • 2005
  • Previous studies on the bilinguals' lexical selection have suggested some evidence in favor of language-specific hypothesis. The purpose of this study was to see whether Korean-English bilinguals' semantic systems of Korean and English are shared or separated between the two languages. In a series of picture-word interference tasks, participants were to name the pictures in Korean or in English with distractor words printed either in Korean or English. The distractor words were either semantically identical, related, unrelated to the picture, or nonexistant. The response time of naming was facilitated when distractor words were semantically identical for both same-(Naming pictures in English/korean with English/Korean distractor words) and different-language pairs(Naming pictures in English with Korean distractor words and vice versa). But this facilitation effect was stronger when naming was produced in their native language, which in this case was Korean. Also, inhibitory effect was shown when the picture and its distractor word were semantically related in both same- and different-language paired conditions. These results show that bilinguals'two lexicons compete to some extent when selecting the target word. In this viewpoint, it can be concluded that the lexicons of either languages may not be entirely but partly overlapping in bilinguals.

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Base-Identity Effects in Some Morphophonemic Alternations in English

  • Kim, Heeyong
    • Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics
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    • v.2 no.2
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    • pp.185-205
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    • 2002
  • Within the framework of Generalized Sympathy (GS) (Jun 1999), this paper investigates the reasons why phonological rules such as Cluster Simplification, Closed Syllable ${\ae}$-Tensing, and Belfast Dentalization overapply or underapply in Class 2 affixed words in English. According to GS, a morphologically independent word can be treated as a derived word in that it is assumed to have any possible outputs as bases to resemble. As a result, a correspondence relation is triggered between a morphologically independent word being represented as Derived (D) and any possible outputs represented as Base (B), i.e., BD-Faith. In analyses of affixed words, BA-Faith is evoked, instead of BD-Faith. Furthermore, as Benua (1997) suggests, BA-Faith is classified into two correspondence relations; $BA_1$-Faith between Base and Class 1 affixed words, and $BA_2$-Faith between Base and Class 2 affixed words. When the $BA_1$-Faith takes precedence over phonological constraints three rules misapply in Class 2 affixed words. In other words, the misapplications are driven by base-identity effects.

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An Analysis of $H^*$ Production by Korean Learners of English according to the Focus of English Sentences in Comparison with Native Speakers of English and Its Pedagogical Implications (영어 원어민과 비교한 한국인 학습자의 영어 문장 초점에 따른 영어 고성조 구현의 분석과 억양교육에 대한 시사점)

  • Yi, So-Pae
    • Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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    • v.3 no.3
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    • pp.57-62
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    • 2011
  • Focused items in English sentences are usually accompanied by changes in acoustic manifestation. This paper investigates the acoustic characteristics of $H^*$ in English utterances produced by natives speakers of English and Korean learners of English. To obtain more reliable results, the changes of the acoustic feature values (F0, intensity, syllable duration) were normalized by a median value and a whole duration of each utterance. Acoustic values of sentences with no focused words were compared with those of sentences with focused words within each group (Americans vs. Koreans). Sentences with focused words were compared between the two groups, too. In the instances in which a significant Group x Focus Location (initial, middle and final of a sentence) interaction was obtained, further analysis testing the effect of Group on each Focus Location was conducted. The analysis revealed that Korean learners of English produced focused words with lower F0, lower intensity and shorter syllable duration than native speakers of English. However, the effect of intensity change caused by focus was not significant within each group. Further analysis examining the interaction of Group and Focus Location showed that the change in F0 produced by Korean group was significantly lower in the middle and the final positions of sentences than by American group. Implications for the intonation training were also discussed.

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A Single-Player Car Driving Game-based English Vocabulary Learning System (1인용 자동차 주행 게임 기반의 영어 단어 학습 시스템)

  • Kim, Sangchul;Park, Hyogeun
    • Journal of Korea Game Society
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.95-104
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    • 2015
  • Many games for English vocabulary learning, such as hangman, cross puzzle, matching, etc, have been developed which are of board-type or computer game-type. Most of these computer games are adapting strategy-style game plays so that there is a limit on giving the fun, a nature of games, to learners who do not like games of this style. In this paper, a system for memorizing new English words is proposed which is based on a single-player car racing game targeting youths and adults. In the game, the core of our system, a learner drives a car and obtains game points by colliding with English word texts like game items appearing on the track. The learner keeps on viewing English words being exposed on the track while driving, resulting in memorizing those words according to a learning principle stating viewing is memorization. To our experiment, the effect of memorizing English words by our car racing game is good, and the degree of satisfaction with our system as a English vocabulary learning tool is reasonably high. Also, previous word games are suitable for the memory enforcement of English words but our game can be used for the memorization of new words.