Acoustic Cues of Korean Stops: With Respect to Regional Dialect, Generation, and Gender

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the ranking of Voice Onset Time (VOT) and Fundamental Frequency (F0) according to regional, generational, and gender differences. Specifically, we examined whether VOT and F0 are uniformly applicable across regional dialects, generations, and genders in dis- tinguishing between Korean lenis and aspirated stops. A total of 120 participants took part in this study, with five participants from each regional dialect, gender, and age group. The results of this study indicate: firstly, across all regions, F0 serves as the primary cue for distinguishing between lenis and aspirated stops. Secondly, the phenomenon of VOT merging, where the VOT of lenis and fortis stops becomes similar, is more frequent among younger generations and female speakers. Thirdly, speakers aged 50-60 still rely on VOT to distinguish between lenis and aspirated stops. Fourthly, Gyeongnam dialect speakers, notably, particularly those in the 10-20 age group, exhibit a pronounced VOT merging phenomenon, relying solely on F0 to distinguish between lenis and aspirated stops, whereas speakers aged 30-40 and older continue to distinguish based on VOT. These findings suggest that the significance of this study in demonstrating that the phenomenon of VOT merging in Korean lenis and aspirated stops does not occur uniformly across all regional dialects, generations, and genders.