Acoustic observation for English speakers perception of a three-way laryngeal contrast of Korean stops

Abstract

While the two-way voicing contrast of English stops can be distinguished by VOT alone, the three-way laryngeal contrast of Korean stops requires additional acoustic parameter, f0, together with VOT for its realization (Chang, 2010; M. Kim, 2004). The distinct acoustic characteristics of the Korean and English stops may create difficulties in English speakers’ discrimination of the non-native Korean contrasts. To confirm this hypothesis, the current study examines English speakers’ discrimination of a three-way laryngeal distinction of Korean stops /p t k/ in the word-initial position of disyllabic minimal pairs. The result supports the hypothetical link between acoustic patterns and perceptual discrimination to a large extent by displaying a relatively low correct discrimination level on the lenis-fortis contrast. This leads to a conclusion that f0 is as important as VOT for non-native listeners to fully perceive the three-way contrast of Korean stops.