Hyunjung Lee

Effects of tone on the three-way laryngeal distinction in Korean: An acoustic and aerodynamic comparison of the Seoul and South Kyungsang dialects

The three-way laryngeal distinction among voiceless Korean stops has been well documented for the Seoul dialect. The present study compares the acoustic and aerodynamic properties of this stop series between two dialects, non-tonal Seoul and tonal South Kyungsang Korean. Sixteen male Korean speakers (eight from Seoul and eight from Kyungsang) participated. Measures collected included VOT, f0 at vowel onset, H1-H2, and air pressure and airflow. The presence versus absence of lexical pitch accent affects both the acoustic and aerodynamic properties. First, Seoul speakers use a combination of f0 and VOT to distinguish the three-way contrast of Korean stops, while Kyungsang speakers mainly use VOT. Second, the presence of lexical pitch for Kyungsang speakers makes f0 an unreliable acoustic cue for the three Korean stops. Third, dialectal differences in VOT to mark the three-way distinction support the notion of a diachronic transition whereby VOT differences between the lenis and aspirated stops in Seoul Korean have been decreasing over the past 50 years. Finally, the aerodynamic results make it possible to postulate the articulatory state of the glottis, indicating a positive correlation with acoustic parameters. Based on the acoustic and aerodynamic results, phonological representations of Korean stops for the tonal and non-tonal dialects are suggested.

The stability of perceptual compensation for coarticulation within and across individuals: A cross-validation study

Perceptual compensation for coarticulation (PCCA) refers to listener responses consistent with perceptual reduction of the acoustic effects of the coarticulatory context on a target sound. The robustness of PCCA across individuals and across tasks have not been studied together previously. This study reports the results of two experiments designed to determine the robustness of perceptual compensation for vocalic influence on sibilant perception across tasks and the stability of such compensatory response within an individual. Identification and discrimination data, collected in the laboratory and on Amazons Mechanical Turk, showed that individuals are moderately stable in their PCCA responses across tasks and the level of stability is consistent across both the lab-based and the internet-based cohorts, although some differences are observed.

Speakers of tonal and non-tonal Korean dialects use different cue weightings in the perception of the three-way laryngeal stop contrast.

The current study investigated the perception of the three-way distinction among Korean voiceless stops in non-tonal Seoul and tonal Kyungsang Korean. The question addressed is whether listeners from these two dialects differ in the way they perceive the three stops. Forty-two Korean listeners (21 each from Seoul and South Kyungsang) were tested in a perception experiment with stimuli in which VOT and F0 were systematically manipulated. Analyses of the perceptual identification functions show that VOT and F0 cues trade off each other for the perception of the three stops. However, the trading relationship differs between the two dialects. Logistic regression analyses confirmed the two dialects use the perceptual cues differently for the lenis and aspirated stops. While Seoul listeners rely primarily on F0 for making lenis responses and on VOT and F0 for aspirated responses, F0 plays a less important role in modulating both lenis and aspirated responses for Kyungsang than for Seoul listeners. It is proposed that different tonal systems between the two dialects and the ongoing diachronic sound change in the stops of Seoul Korean contribute to the inter-dialect difference in cue weighting for the three-way stop distinction. The results suggest that although the difference in phonology between the two dialects influences the phonetic realization, the phonetic trade-off among multiple cues allows each dialect to maintain the phonemic distinction in a unique way.

The Contribution of Segmental and Tonal Information in Mandarin Spoken Word Processing

Two priming experiments examined the separate contribution of lexical tone and segmental information in the processing of spoken words in Mandarin Chinese. Experiment 1 contrasted four types of prime–target pairs: tone-and-segment overlap (ru4-ru4), segment-only overlap (ru3-ru4), tone-only overlap (sha4-ru4) and unrelated (qin1-ru4) in an auditory lexical decision task with 48 native Mandarin listeners. Experiment 2 further investigated the minimal segmental overlap needed to trigger priming when tonal information is present. Four prime–target conditions were contrasted: tone-and-segment overlap (ru4-ru4), only onset segment overlap (re4-ru4), only rime overlap (pu4-ru4) and unrelated (qin1-ru4) in an auditory lexical decision task with 68 native Mandarin listeners. The results showed significant priming effects when both tonal and segmental information overlapped or, although to a lesser extent, when only segmental information overlapped, with no priming found when only tones matched. Moreover, any partial segmental overlap, even with matching tonal cues, resulted in significant inhibition. These data clearly indicate that lexical tones are processed differently from segments, with syllabic structure playing a critical role. These findings are discussed in terms of the overall architecture of the processing system that emerges in Mandarin lexical access.

Acoustic evidence for diachronic sound change in Korean prosody: A comparative study of the Seoul and South Kyungsang dialects

Abstract This paper examined the acoustic properties of the pitch accent of South Kyungsang Korean, focusing on generational differences. Kyungsang Korean has lexical pitch accents, whereas standard Seoul Korean does not. However, whether the pitch accents are maintained by younger Kyungsang speakers is questionable given the influence of Seoul Korean. Through comparisons between older and younger speakers and between Seoul and South Kyungsang speakers, this study tested if and how sound change occurs in the pitch accent system of the regional dialect, and if the prosody of Kyungsang Korean shifts towards that of non-tonal Seoul Korean. We examined F0 scaling and alignment of pitch accents for the data collected from 40 female Korean speakers (10 younger and 10 older speakers each for Seoul and South Kyungsang dialects). Clear acoustic differences between generations provided evidence for diachronic sound change in the lexical pitch accent of South Kyungsang Korean. First, the differences in F0 scaling and alignment across accent contrasts are less distinct for younger Kyungsang speakers than for older speakers. Second, the F0 peak occurs later for younger Kyungsang speakers across all accent classes, resulting in a final rising accent pattern in disyllables similar to Seoul Korean. Third, despite the similarity with Seoul Korean, results from longer words revealed that Kyungsang Korean is still distinct from Seoul in terms of its maintenance of the lexical pitch accent. Based on these findings, we conclude that the sound change in lexical pitch accent is in progress by satisfying the prosodic properties of both Seoul and South Kyungsang Korean.

Antihepatotoxic and Antigenotoxic Effects of Herb Tea Composed of Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.

The flower of Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. with antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory functions has been a widely used traditional herb as a healthy beverage and medicine. The aim of the present study was to investigate a herb tea consisting of C. morifolium Ramat., Corni fructus and Schizandra chinensis Baillon for its hepatoprotective activity against -induced toxicity in freshly isolated rat hepatocytes and antigenotoxic effect against oxidative stress induced DNA damage in human leukocytes. Three different compositions of the herb tea (Mix I, II, and III) were prepared by extracting with water at . Freshly isolated rat hepatocytes were exposed to along with/without various concentrations of each tea. Protection of rat primary cells against -induced damage was determined by the MTT assay. The significant antihepatotoxic effect of the tea was shown in Mix I and II. The increased transaminase (AST and/or ALT) release in media of treated hepatocytes was significantly lowered by all the teas tested. The effect of the tea on DNA damage in human leukocytes was evaluated by Comet assay. All teas showed a protective effect against -induced DNA damage. From these results, it is assumed that herb tea based on C. morifolium Ramat., Corni fructus and Schizandra chinensis Baillon exerted antihepatotoxic and antigenotoxic effects.

A diachronic investigation of the vowels and fricatives in Korean: An acoustic comparison of the Seoul and South Kyungsang dialects

Although the segmental properties of Kyungsang Korean have been known to be distinct from those of standard Seoul Korean, the increased influence of Seoul Korean on the regional variety casts doubt on the homogeneity of the dialect. The current study investigated whether the acoustic properties of the vowels and fricatives in Kyungsang Korean are retained by both younger and older generations through a comparison with Seoul Korean. Results of acoustic analyses with 38 female Korean speakers differing in dialect (Kyungsang, Seoul) and age (older, younger) showed that the younger Kyungsang speakers did not maintain the vowel and fricative features unique to their regional dialect, but rather approximate those of standard Seoul Korean. In the acoustic study of vowels, measures of formant frequencies showed that the younger Kyungsang and Seoul speakers share seven vowels, which result from the split of /ʌ/–/ɨ/ in Kyungsang and the merger of / e /–/e/ in Seoul Korean. In the acoustic study of fricatives, measures of fricative duration and center of gravity showed that while the two-way fricative contrast is less distinct for older Kyungsang speakers, younger speakers clearly distinguish the two fricatives similar to Seoul speakers. As a consequence of these generational changes in Kyungsang Korean, the six vowels and lack of a fricative contrast exhibited by older generations have given way to seven vowels and a clear distinction between fortis and non-fortis fricatives for younger generations. Based on the similarities in segmental properties between younger Kyungsang and Seoul speakers, it appears that the diachronic sound change is underway in South Kyungsang Korean under the influence of Seoul Korean.

Perceptual accommodation to rate, talker, and context in Mandarin

The present research examines how perceptual constancy is achieved by exploring three fundamental sources of acoustic variability: changes in the rate at which a sentence is spoken, differences due to which speaker produced the sentence, and variations resulting from the sentence context. These sources of variability are investigated by examining the processing of Mandarin tone (specifically Tone 2 and Tone 3). Acoustic analyses (fundamental frequency and duration) of tone productions of 12 native speakers were conducted. These data were then used to construct stimuli to evaluate perceptual adjustments to speaking rate, talker, and context. 14 target stimuli were created varying in temporal, spectral, and both temporal and spectral characteristics. These target stimuli were preceded by six different precursor sentences representing different speaking rates, speakers, and contexts. Participants were asked for their tone judgments. Analyses show interactions between precursor type and target manipulation. S...

Perception of initial stops in tonal and non-tonal Korean

The current study investigated the perception of the three-way distinction among voiceless stops in non-tonal Seoul Korean and tonal Kyungsang Korean. We addressed whether listeners from these two dialects differ in the way they perceive the three stops. Twenty Korean listeners (nine from Seoul and eleven from Kyungsang) were tested with stimuli in which VOT and F0 were systematically manipulated. Analyses of the perceptual identification functions show that the results replicate the reported phonetic trading relationship between VOT and F0 in Seoul Korean and that this trading relationship is observed in Kyungsang as well. However, the trading relationship differs between the two dialects. Logistic regression analysis further shows that the two dialects use the perceptual cues differently. While both VOT and F0 are effective for Seoul Korean, only VOT is effective for the identification of all three stops for Kyungsang Korean. A similar pattern has been observed acoustically [Lee and Jongman, J. Acoust. ...

Variation and change in the nominal pitch-accent system of South Kyungsang Korean

The current paper investigates the nominal pitch accent system in South Kyungsang Korean through an acoustic study and presents a phonological analysis for the system based on the acoustic results. The data were collected from fourmale South Kyungsang speakers by recording monosyllabic and disyllabic nouns with various types of suffixes. The pitch results confirmed the accent distinctions reported in earlier works on the language, and we found that suffixes may also bear contrastive accent. We analyzed the pitch accent system as having three pre-linked accents and one default accent. Two of the pre-linked accents count from the left and are linked to the initial and peninitial moras of the root, respectively, and both spread one mora to the right. The other pre-linked accent counts from the right (penult) and does not spread. This analysis fits in with the culminative tone typology established in Evans (Types of tonal culminativity in language of Sichuan and elsewhere, 2009). An Optimality Theoretic analysis that derives the surface tone patterns for both the default and prelinked accents is proposed, and the proposal is compared with earlier analyses of pitch accents in North and South Kyungsang Korean.