Prosodic focus in Seoul Korean and South Kyungsang Korean

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study employed production and perception experiments in an exploration of whether “purely” prosodic marking of focus is weak and ambiguous in Seoul Korean and South Kyungsang Korean. Production data presented two important characteristics in the use of prosodic focus in both languages. Prosodic modulation by focus was weak, and focus effects spread to the adjacent position within a phrase as a function of focus. As a result, listeners had difficulty identifying the position of prosodic focus in perception-overall identification rates were about 37% for Seoul Korean and about 48% for South Kyungsang Korean. Additionally, incorrect answers often appeared within the same phrase before or after focus positions. The results of this study suggest that prosodic marking of focus is neither automatic nor universal, which is in contrast to the common claim that a focused element is maximally prominent in a sentence (Büring 2010; Samek-Lodovici 2005; Truckenbrodt 1995). Instead, this study claims that prosodic marking of focus differs according to a language’s prosodic structure, and that it can be weak and ambiguous in certain languages.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Abstract
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Production
• 3. Perception experiment
• 4. Discussion and conclusion
• References