Syllable and Phoneme Frequencies in the Spontaneous Speech of 2-5 year-old Korean Children

2-5 세 아동의 자발적 발화에 나타난 한국어 음절 및 음운 빈도

The purpose of this study was to investigate the syllable and phoneme frequencies in the spontaneous speech of some Korean children. Sixty four normally developing children aged from 2 to 5 were involved (male: female=1 : 1, 16 children in each age group). Fifty connected utterances were analyzed using the KCLA (Korean Computerized Language Analysis) 2.0 and Exel. The findings were as follows: 1) /i/ was the most frequently used syllable and was followed by /yo/, /k/, /s'/, /nen/ and so on. 2) The most frequently used Korean phonemes were syllable-initial consonant /k/, syllable- medial vowel /a/ and syllable-final consonant /n/. 3) All seven syllable final consonants (/p,t,k,m,n,n,l/) were used more frequently in the word-medial position than in the word-final position. Three syllable initial consonants(/k, I, s'/) were used more frequently in the word-medial position than in the word-initial position. The syllable and phoneme frequencies in the Korean children's spontaneous speech will provide valuable information in interpreting the severity of phonological disorder and in developing tools for the Korean phonological assessment and intervention.