Korean Forced Sounds Revisited

경음재론(硬音再論)

Not only Korean scholars but also many scholars in the field of phonetic science were interested in Korean forced sounds from the viewpoint of general phonetics as a way to clarify the process of production and the physical characteristics of speech sounds. The author also tried to elucidate the characteristics of Korean forced sounds using the sound spectrograph (Umeda & Umeda 1965). Over the past 30 years since this study, many scholars have analyzed these sounds from various standpoints resulting in copious amounts of literature. In this paper, the author critically examined the results of previous studies on this subject dealing with VOT, spectral characteristics, fundamental frequency, states of glottis obtained from fiber-optic investigations, and patterns of tongue-palate contact acquired from observation by use of dynamic palatograph. These points were discussed in relation to the author's field of investigation.