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KMID : 1022420140060040017
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Phonetics and Speech Sciences
2014 Volume.6 No. 4 p.17 ~ p.26
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Phonetic investigation of epenthetic vowels produced by Korean learners of English
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Shin Dong-Jin
Iverson Paul
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Abstract
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The present study examined epenthetic vowels produced by Korean learners of English in read sentences, in terms ofacoustic measures and extra-phonological factors. The results demonstrated three main findings. First, epenthetic vowels hadrelatively high F1 values and a wide range of F2 values. Most of the epenthetic vowels were inserted near Korean highcentral vowels, but some vowels were inserted near front vowels due to co-articulation with surrounding vowels. Second,vowel epenthesis was affected by the context. The results showed that the epenthesis was frequently seen with word junctionsbetween obstruents (e.g., stops-fricatives). Third, Korean learners were not affected by English background and were veryweakly affected by orthography. English experience, which is one of the extra-phonological factors, was not related toepenthesis production. However, orthography, the other extra-phonological factor, very weakly affected the amount ofepenthesis production. Nine percent of all epenthesis production was affected by the English past-tense suffix ‘-ed’;approximately 70% of the participants were affected by this suffix. The findings of the present study contributed tounderstanding vowel epenthesis. First, the study revealed that the epenthetic vowels produced by Korean learners of Englishwere close to the high central vowel, supporting previous studies that the epenthetic vowel is quite close to the shortestvowel. Second, the study examined the various phonetic environments of epenthetic vowels, revealing that vowel epenthesisoccurred more frequently in a certain phonetic circumstance.
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KEYWORD
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epenthetic vowel, epenthesis environment, extra-phonological factors, English experience, orthographical effects
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