A Comparison of Korean and Malay Plosives

한국어와 말레이어 파열음 비교 연구

This paper investigates phonation types of Malay plosives and compares Malay plosives with Korean ones in terms of VOT, F0, duration of closure, and durations of the preceding and following vowels. This study is significant in that it specifies phonetic characteristics of phonation types of the two languages and provides phonetic bases for teaching and learning either of the two languages. The results showed that Malay voiceless plosives are greater than voiced ones in VOT, F0, duration of closure, but the other way in durations of the preceding and following vowels. Comparison of the two languages, particularly in terms of the distribution of VOT, indicates that Malay voiceless plosives are close to Korean fortis plosives.