Measuring the VOT of the stem-final stops in affixed forms, this paper examines the relationship between the word-final release noise and the comparable stem-final burst noise in affixed forms. The experiment indicated that the three types of level 2 ...
Measuring the VOT of the stem-final stops in affixed forms, this paper examines the relationship between the word-final release noise and the comparable stem-final burst noise in affixed forms. The experiment indicated that the three types of level 2 suffixes are not altogether parallel with respect to their effect on aspiration of the preceding stem-final stops. Also indicated is that the gradient realization of aspiration in affixed forms is affected by the phonological context of the stem, which in turn effects gradience of the release noise in the word-final stops (Kang 2003). These results suggest that the two allophonic properties of the release noise and the corresponding burst noise are related as perceptual cues in the wake of morphological variation. In this perspective, the burst noise of stem-final stops is interpreted as an effort to preserve the word-final release noise. This type of output-to-output correspondence in allophonic release-to-burst noise between the base and the affixed forms emerges naturally in Optimality Theory through the affix-specific constraints and overapplication of Ident-BA over the normal markedness constraints.