• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.27-33
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• 2011

This paper explores two articulatory characteristics of inter-consonantal coordination observed in lingual-lingual (/kt/, /ks/) and labial-lingual (/pt/) sequences. Using electromagnetic articulometry (EMMA), temporal aspects of the lip movement and lingual movement (of the tongue tip and the tongue dorsum) were examined. Three sequences (/ks/, /kt/, /pt/) were investigated in two respects: gestural overlap in C1C2 and formation duration of coronals in C2 (/t/ or /s/). Results are summarized as follows. First, in a sequence of two stop consonants gestural overlap did not vary with order contrast or a low-level motor constraint on lingual articulators. Gestural overlap between two stop consonants was similar in both /kt/ (lingual-lingual; back-to-front) and /pt/ (labial-lingual; front-to-back). Second, gestural overlap was not simply constrained by place of articulation. Two coronals (/s/ and /t/) shared the same articulator, the tongue tip, but they showed a distinctive gestural overlap pattern with respect to /k/ in C1 (/ks/ (less overlap) < /kt/ (more overlap)). Third, temporal duration of the tongue tip gesture varied as a function of manner of articulation of the target segment in C2 (/ks/ (shorter) < /kt/ (longer)) as well as a function of place of articulation of the segmental context in C1 (/pt/ (shorter) < /kt/ (longer)). There are several implications associated with the results from Korean non-assimilating contexts. First, Korean can be better explained in the way of its language-specific gestural pattern; gestural overlap in Korean is not simply attributed to order contrast (front-to-back vs. back-to-front) or a physiological motor constraint on lingual articulators (lingual-lingual vs. nonlingual-lingual). Taking all factors into consideration, inter-gestural coordination is influenced not only by C1 (place of articulation) but also C2 (manner of articulation). Second, the jaw articulator could have been a factor behind a distinctive gestural overlap pattern in different C1C2 sequences (/ks/ (less overlap) vs. /kt/ and /pt/ (more overlap)). A language-specific gestural pattern occurred with reference to a physiological motor constraint on the jaw articulator.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.41-50
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• 2010

The current study exploresacoustic variation induced by prosodic contexts in different speech styles,with a focus on motherese or child-directed speech (CDS). The patterns of variation in the acoustic expression of voicing contrast in English stops, and the role of prosodic factors in governing such variation are investigated in CDS. Prosody-induced acoustic strengthening reported from adult-directed speech (ADS)is examined in the speech data directed to infants at the one-word stage. The target consonants are collected from Utterance-initial and -medial positions, with or without focal accent. Overall, CDS shows that the prosodic prominence of constituents under focal accent conditions variesin the acoustic correlates of the stop laryngeal contrasts. The initial position is not found with enhanced acoustic values in the current study, which is similar to the finding from ADS (Choi, 2006 Cole et al, 2007). Individualized statistical results, however, indicate that the effect of accent on acoustic measures is not very robust, compared to the effect of accent in ADS. Enhanced distinctiveness under focal accent is observed from the limited subjects' acoustic measures in CDS. The results indicate dissimilar strategies to mark prosodic structures in different speech styles as well as the consistent prosodic effect across speech styles. The stylistic variation is discussed in relation to the listener under linguistic development in CDS.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.59-75
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• 2002

Aerodynamic analysis study was performed on 14 normal subjects (2 males, 12 females) with nonsense syllables composed of Korean bilabial stops (/p, p', $p^{h}$) and their preceding and/or following vowels, /i, a, u/. That is, [pi, p'i, $p^{h}i$, pa, p'a, $p^{h}a$, pu, p'u, $p^{h}u$, ipi, apa, upu, $ip^{h}i$, $ap^{h}a$, $up^{h}u$, ip'i, ap'a, up'u]. All measures were taken and analysed using Aerophone II voice function analyzer and included peak air pressure, mean air pressure, maximum flow rate, volume, mean SPL and phonatory SPL. A t-test and one-way ANOVA were employed for analysis. A post-hoc analysis was performed with Scheffe and Bonferroni. The results were as follows: First, MSPL. and MAP of /p, p', $p^{h}$/ were significantly different in different positions (initial and medial position). In addition, different vowel environment also produced significantly different aerodynamic characteristics those consonants. Especially the lax consonant /p/ was significantly different /i, a, u/ vowel environments. The tense consonant /p'/ was significantly different only /i/ vowel environment.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.31-41
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• 2012

Recent studies have shown that the stop system of Korean is undergoing a sound change in terms of the two acoustic parameters, voice onset time (VOT) and fundamental frequency (f0). Because of a VOT merger of a consonantal opposition and onset-f0 interaction, the relative importance of the two parameters has been changing in Korean where f0 is a primary cue and VOT is a secondary cue in distinguishing lax from aspirated stops in speech production as well as perception. In English, however, VOT is a primary cue and f0 is a secondary cue in contrasting voiced and voiceless stops. This study examines how Korean English learners use the two acoustic parameters of L1 in producing L2 English stops and whether the sound change of acoustic parameters in L1 affects L2 speech production. The data were collected from six adult Korean English learners. Results show that Korean English learners use not only VOT but also f0 to contrast L2 voiced and voiceless stops. However, unlike VOT variations among speakers, the magnitude effect of onset consonants on f0 in L2 English was steady and robust, indicating that f0 also plays an important role in contrasting the [voice] contrast in L2 English. The results suggest that the important role of f0 in contrasting lax and aspirated stops in L1 Korean is transferred to the contrast of voiced and voiceless stops in L2 English. The results imply that, for Korean English learners, f0 rather than VOT will play an important perceptual cue in contrasting voiced and voiceless stops in L2 English.

• Proceedings of the KSPS conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.143-146
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• 2004

The aim of this paper is to investigate how the stem-final consonant clusters beginning with the liquid /ㄹ/ in Korean are realized in speech. Most scholars claim that the Korean stem-final consonant clusters are simplified and reduced to a stop consonant when pronounced. An attempt is made in this paper to verify the claim by conducting a series of listening tests and an acoustic analysis. The listening tests show that, contrary to the previous claims, some Koreans actually pronounce the stem-final consonant clusters as a whole. The result of the spectrographical study confirms our auditory observation. It has been found that the duration time taken by the stem-final consonant clusters is clearly longer when both consonants are pronounced than when only a liquid is pronounced. Similarly the vowel length of the previous syllable in the former is found to be longer in scale than the latter.

• Korean Journal of Cleft Lip And Palate
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2002

Some children with Cleft Palate have shown a speech disorders after repaired surgical operation. A diagnostic evaluation of speech in children with cleft palates is important in preventing speech disorders. However, standard speech evaluation form for children with cleft palates has not yet developed in Korea. The purpose of this study is to make the standard speech evaluation form for children with cleft palates. Thirty control children group and ten children with cleft palate participated in this experiment. The test words are composed of meaningless two syllabic words containing the three different types of korean stop consonants,

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.89-95
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• 2015

We explored Dutch listeners' perception of Korean three-way contrast of fortis, lenis, and aspirated stops. The three Korean stops are all voiceless word-initially, whereas Dutch distinguishes between voiced and voiceless stops, so Korean voiceless stops were expected to be difficult for the Dutch listeners. Among the three Korean stops, fortis stops are phonetically most similar to Dutch voiceless stops, thus they were expected to be the easiest to distinguish for the Dutch listeners. Dutch and Korean listeners carried out a discrimination task using three crucial comparisons, i.e., fortis-lenis, fortis-aspirated, and lenis-aspirated stops. Results showed that discrimination between lenis and aspirated stops was the most difficult among the three comparisons for both Dutch and Korean listeners. As expected, Dutch listeners discriminated fortis from the other stops relatively accurately. It seems likely that Dutch listeners relied heavily on VOT but less on F0 when discriminating between the three Korean stops.

• Proceedings of the KSLP Conference
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• 1996.11a
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• pp.89-89
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• 1996

정상인 20명을 대상으로 하여, 우리말의 양순 파열음인 /ㅂ, ㅃ, ㅍ/의 발음시, 각각의 음소에서의 구강내압의 크기와 폐쇄기 및 VOT의 길이를 측정하고, 목표 자음이 어두에 나올 때 및 음절 초에 나올 때, 그리고 어음을 보통 소리로 말했을 때와 큰 소리로 말했을 때, 그 세 측정치가 어떻게 변화하는지를 파악하기 위한 실험을 실시하였다 채취된 어음의 구강내압은 발음시 Pressure sensor를 사용함으로써 산출된 파형을 이용하여 측정하였고, 폐쇄기와 VOT는 컴퓨터에 입력된 음성신호를 Spectrogram으로 분석하여 측정하였다. 그 결과, 양순 파열음 중 구강내압은 /ㅍ/＞/ㅃ/＞/ㅂ/의 순이었고, 폐쇄기의 길이는 /ㅃ/＞/ㅍ/＞/ㅂ/, 그리고, VOT의 길이는 /ㅍ/＞/ㅂ/＞/ㅃ/의 순이었다. 양순 파열음이 어두에 올 패보다 음절 초에 올 때 더 큰 구강내압을 보였으며, 폐쇄기의 길이는 더 짧아지는 경향을 보였고, VOT의 길이도 폐쇄기와 마찬가지로 짧아지는 경향을 보였다 그리고, 양순 파열음을 큰 소리로 발음했을 때, 목표 자음의 위치에 상관없이, 구강내압의 크기는 의미 있게 커졌으며, 폐쇄기와 VOT는 짧아지는 경향을 보였다.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.9
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• pp.896-900
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• 2007

Purpose : The aim of this study was to investigate the speech problems in benign rolandic epilepsy (BRE) according to the seizure focus in EEG and semiology. Methods : Twenty three patients [right origin (13 patients) or left side (10 patients)] who met the BRE criteria by International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) were prospectively enrolled. We excluded the patients who had abnormal MRI or showed both side spikes in EEG. Computerized Speech Lab was used to assess the speech characteristics of the patients. Results : The error pattern of laryngeal articulation in BRE was exclusively substitution of stop consonants, these errors showed more frequent in the left group (16.0% vs 25.5%). Voice onset time (VOT) of stop consonants and Total duration (TD) of word in both groups were prolonged than normal control group, especially in left group (P<0.05). The first formant of vowel /o/ and second formant of /e/ were significantly decreased in left group (P<0.05). The right group scored wider on pitch range ($192.9{\pm}54.0Hz$) and energy range in spontaneous speech ($14.2{\pm}6.4db$) than the left group ($233.3{\pm}12.5Hz$, $19.4{\pm}9.3db$, respectively, P>0.05). Duration of counting (5 to 9) in left group slower than right group ($8.6{\pm}1.7$ vs $7.9{\pm}1.8sec$). Conclusion : Our data suggested that interictal spikes and seizures in either centrotemporal sides, especially left side group, may induce speech problems. We recommend the logopedic and phoniatric evaluations of speech in BRE patients.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.87-103
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• 2004

This study investigates Korean listeners' perception of the English stop epenthesis between the sonorant and fricative segments. Specifically this study investigates 1) how often English epenthetic stops are perceived by native Korean listeners, given the fact that Korean does not allow consonant clusters in codas; and 2) whether perception of the epenthetic stops, which are optional phonetic variations, not phonemes, could be improved without any explicit training. 120 English non-words with a mono-syllable structure of CVC1C2, where C1=/m, n, $\eta$, 1/, and C2=/s, $\theta$, $\int$/, were given to two groups of native Korean listeners, and they were asked to detect the target stops such as [p], [t], and [k]. The number of their responses were computed to determine how often listeners succeed in recovering the string of segments produced by the native English speaker. The results of the present study show that English epenthetic stops are poorly identified by native Korean listeners with low English proficiency, even in the case where stimuli with strong acoustic cues are provided with, but perception of epenthetic stops is closely related with listeners' English proficiency, showing the possibility of the improvement of perception. It further shows that perception of epenthetic stops shows asymmetry between coronal and non-coronal consonants.