• Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.233-247
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• 2004

This study explores sound alternations in a consonant cluster in which at least one consonant is a sonorant (a son/C cluster, hereafter). In this study, I argue that phonological processes affecting son/C clusters result from low perceptual salience rather than from the Syllable Contact Law as discussed in Vennemann (1988), Clements (1990), Rice & Avery (1991), Baertsch & Davis (2000), among others. That is, as a main factor motivating the alternations in the cluster, I consider contrasts of weak perceptibility triggered by phonetic similarity between two members of a cluster (Kawasaki 1982, Ohala 1992, 1993). Based on the findings from a typological survey in 31 different languages, I show that a speech perception-based account makes a correct prediction regarding the patterning of sonorant/sonorant sequences and that of obstruent/sonorant sequences, while the syllable contact account does not.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.23-40
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• 2007

This paper discusses why Korean speakers have problems in pronouncing some medial sonorant clusters in English. We argue that the main reasons lie in the sonority sequence requirement difference between the two languages. English does not have any specific sonority sequence preference between the medial sonorant sequences while Korean has a strict requirement between the two sonorants over a syllable boundary. This sonority sequence requirement difference between the two languages acts as an interference for Korean speakers in learning English pronunciation. This barrier for Korean speakers in acquiring correct pronunciation is implemented in a constraint ranking difference in the Optimality Theory, which is not familiar for Korean speakers. Understanding the details of sonorant production mechanisms along with the different constraint ranking will facilitate the learning process of Korean speakers learning English.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.145-155
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• 2013

This study investigated the articulatory characteristics of Korean singleton and geminate sonorants in the word-medial position, effects of the duration of the sonorant consonant and the preceding vowel on perception, and the difference between native Korean speakers and foreign learners of Korean in perceiving the singleton and geminate consonant contrast. The Korean sonorant consonants(/m, n, l/) are examined from the VCCV, VCV sequences through speech production and perception experiments. The results suggest that the duration of the sonorant consonant is the most important factor for native Korean speakers to recognize whether sonorants are overlapped, and the duration of preceding vowel and other factors affect the recognition of singleton/geminate consonant contrast if the duration is not obvious. A perception experiment showed Chinese Korean language learners did not clearly distinguish singleton consonants from geminate consonants. The results of this study provide basic data for recognition of singleton/geminate consonant contrast in word-medial of Korean language, and can be utilized for teaching Korean pronunciation as a foreign language.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1193-1220
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• 2009

This study examined the impact of sonority profiles, positional differences and L2 proficiency on Korean EFL learners' perception of English biconsonantal clusters, using nonce words. The overall results showed that major predictions of the sonority-based typological markedness on consonant clusters were supported, as obstruent plus sonorant and sonorant plus obstruent sequences were better perceived than obstruent only or sonorant only sequences. Yet, some consonant clusters did not show a preference for sonority profiles. Positional effects were also confirmed, as word-initial biconsonantal clusters were better perceived than wordfinal ones across all the participant groups. Participants' English proficiency turned out to be also important in the perception of consonant clusters, since university students' mean rate of accuracy was highest, followed by that of high school students, which in turn followed by that of middle school students. Further, the effects of other factors like frequency and stimuli on speech perception were also addressed, along with some implications for future research.

• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.851-870
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• 2010

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the distribution of /ju/ in British English, especially after the coronal sonorants /n, l, /r/. The sequence /ju/ is related with vowels such as /u/, /ʊ/, and /ʊ/, and has occasioned a variety of conflicting analyses or suggestions. One of those is in which context /j/ is deleted if we suppose that the underlying form is /ju/. The context differs according to the dialect we deal with. In British English, it is known that /j/ is deleted always after /r/, and usually after /l/ when it occurs in an unstressed word-medial syllable. To check this well-known fact I searched OED Online (the 2nd Edition, 1989) for those words which contain /n, l, r/ + /ju, jʊ, u, ʊ, (j)u, (j)ʊ/ in their pronunciations, using the search engine provided by OED Online. After removing some unnecessary words, I classified the collected words into several groups according to the preceding sonorant consonants, the positions, and the presence (or absence) of the stress, of the syllable where /ju/ occurs. The results are as follows: 1) the deletion of /j/ depends on the sonorant consonant which /ju/ follows, the position where it occurs, and the presence of the stress which /ju/ bears; 2) though the influence of the sonorant consonants is strong, the position and stress also have non-trivial effect on the deletion of /j/, that is, the word-initial syllable and the stressed syllable prefer the deletion of /j/, and word-medial and unstressed syllable usually retain /j/; 3) the stress and position factors play their own roles even in the context where the effect of /n, l, r/ is dominant.

• MALSORI
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• no.37
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• pp.1-12
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• 1999

In this paper, we examine the allophones of an underlying segment /l/ in Korean dialects. In particular, we examine how an underlying /l/ sound surfaces in the Korean dialect spoken at Yonbyon, China. To do so, we employ the following processes: First, we perform the phonetic studies on the allophones of an underlying /l/ in the Yonbyon dialect. Secondly, we compare the phonological environments of the allophones of an underlying /l/ in the Yonbyon dialect with the South Korean dialect. Finally, we discuss the phonological implications of the allophones of the underlying /l/ in terms of Feature Geometry and Syllable Contact Law. Based on the phonetic study, we will argue that the distinctive feature [sonorant] should be placed outside the root node and that the flap, an allophone of an underlying /l/, should be understood as an obstruent, not a sonorant.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.23-31
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• 2011

This paper examines the production patterns of the acquisition of coda consonants in monosyllabic words in English-speaking children with cochlear implants. The data come from the transcribed speech of children with cochlear implants. This study poses three questions. First, do children with cochlear implants acquire onset consonants earlier than codas? Second, do children's productions have a bimoraic-sized constraint that maintains binary feet? Third, what patterns emerge from production of coda consonants? The results revealed that children with cochlear implants acquire onset consonants earlier than codas. With regard to the bimoraic-sized constraints, the productions of vowel type (i.e., monomoraic and bimoraic) were more accurate for monomoraic vowels than bimoraic ones for some children with cochlear implants, although accuracy in vowel productions showed high proportion regardless of vowel types. The variations of coda production exhibited individual differences. Some children produced less sonorant consonants with high frequency and others produced more sonorant ones. The results of this study were similar to those pertaining to children with normal hearing. In the process of coda consonant acquisition, the error patterns of prosody-sensitive production may be regarded as articulatory challenges to produce higher-level prosodic structures.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.48-51
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• 2003

The purpose of this paper is to research the realization of /h/ between sonorant sounds. For this purpose, we analyze speech of 5 people using standard Korean. As a result, we can find that the possibility of deletion of /h/ is increasing, when speech rate is high, the AP has more syllables, and /h/ is far from the AP-initial. While the position of AP or IP has no relation to realization of /h/. The deletion of /h/ is more often in this order. Followed segments: lateral>nasal>vowel, following segments: vowel>glide. And there is no change on duration of following vowel after /h/ deletion.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.39
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• pp.381-406
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• 2015

Russian nasal consonants / m /, / n / have a feature value not only [+consonant] in common with obstruents, but also [+sonorant] in common with vowels. Nasal / m /(bi-labial) and / n /(dental) have the same place of articulation but different manner of articulation. The feature value of / m / is [+cons, +son, +nas, +ant, -cor, -high, -low, -back, -cont, -del, rel, -strid, +voic], and that of / n / is [+cons, +son, +nas, +ant, +cor, -high, -low, -back, -cont, -del, rel, -strid, + voic]. There is a difference in feature [cor] value of / m / and / n /. In this study it is confirmed that it is a fact that the Russian nasal consonants behave differently from the other consonants in each phonological phenomenon due to their phonological characteristics. The preceding voiced obstruent is changed to an unvoiced one in a process where the last voiceless obstruent in the consonant cluster ' voiced obstruent + nasal /m/ + voiceless obstruent' skips the nasal consonant and spreads its feature value to the preceding voiced obstruent transparently because of the feature [+sonorant] of the nasal consonant. The coronal nasal /n/ participates in a palatalization with the following palatal actively and palatalize preceding plain consonants passively because of markedness hierarchy such as 'Velar > Labial > Coronal'. But the labial nasal /m/ is palatalized with the following velar palatal actively and participates in a palatalization with the following coronal palatal passively. This result helps us confirm the phonological difference of /m/ and /n/ in a palatalization. When the a final consonant is nasal, the unvoicing phenomenon of a final consonant doesn't occur. In such a case as cluster 'obstruent + nasal' the feature value [voiced] of the preceding obstruent doesn't change, but the following nasal can assimilate into the preceding obstruent. When continuing the same nasals / -nn- / in a consonant cluster, the feature value [+cont] of a weak position leads the preceding nasal / n / to be changed into [-cont] / l /. Through the analysis of the frequency of occurrences of consonants in syllabic onsets and codas that should observe the 'Sonority Sequence Principle', the sonority hierarchy of nasal consonants has been confirmed. In a diachronic perspective following nasal / m /, / n / there is a loss of the preceding labial stop and dental stop. But in clusters with the velar stop+nasal, the two-component cluster has been kept phonetically intact.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 1996.10a
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• pp.176-181
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• 1996

This paper investigates patterns of manner assimilation in Toba Batak, Sanskrit, Ponapean and Korean. Based on cross-linguistic patterns of manner assimilation, I develop the constraint, Syllable Contact (SyllCon), as a type of a markedness constraint in Correspondence Theory. With the establishment of high-ranking SyllCon, I argue that several patterns of manner assimilation result from the interaction of high-ranking SyllCon and correspondence constraints such as Ident[sonorant].