• 영어영문학
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• 제57권6호
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• pp.1043-1065
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• 2011

This study investigates i-umlaut which occurred in the period of pre Old English (OE) in two aspects: what motivates i-umlaut in OE and how the phenomenon can be analyzed within the framework of OT. Unlike root-controlled vowel harmony, i-umlaut in OE is triggered by the suffixal i or j in the unstressed syllable whereby a stressed root vowel becomes fronted or raised. In this study, it is proposed that i-umlaut in OE is driven by the weak trigger i or j to improve its poor perception: I-umlaut improves the poor perceptibility of the weak trigger by extending its feature-either [-back] or [-low]-onto the vowel in the stressed syllable. This study provides an OT-theoretic analysis utilizing the licensing account to vowel harmony proposed by Walker (2004, 2005). The licensing constraints, IDENT-IO(F) and the locally conjoined constraints are proposed and their interaction correctly captures the pattern of i-umlaut in OE. Also, it is shown that the licensing account proposed in this paper is superior to the previous analyses as well as the nonlicensing approaches in that it can provide a perceptual motivation couched in i-umlaut in OE.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.107-114
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• 2017

The purpose of the current study was to compare selected acoustic and electroglottographic measures (closed quotient, pitch, and loudness) among vowel phonation, traditional voiced lip trill ($VLT_T$), modified voiced lip trill methods ($VLT_M$). A total of 21 participants without voice complaints produced 4-second long samples using each phonation method. Results indicated that mean closed quotient of $VLT_M$ was higher than that of vowel phonation and $VLT_T$, while its range and standard deviation measures were higher than those of vowel phonation. Mean, range, standard deviation, maximum of pitch measures of $VLT_M$ were higher than those of vowel phonation. Lastly, mean and maximum loudness of the $VLT_M$ were higher than $VLT_T$. In conclusion, the current data indicate the possibility to use the $VLT_M$ as a training method for singing or a strategy to facilitate generalization effect of voice therapy. Current results also reflect the necessity for further study pertaining to the long-term effect of the $VLT_M$ training method. Clinical implications are discussed.

• 대한통합의학회지
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.89-104
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• 2019

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of korean vowels by acoustically analyzing whether children produce Korean vowels differently according to their age and gender between ages 4 and 6. Methods : A total of 104 children aged 4~6 years (56 males and 48 females) participated in this study. The participants were classified as either 4, 5, or 6 years old. Vowel speech data was obtained by asking the subjects to pronounce meaningful words in which the vowel in question was located in the first syllable. Speech analysis was performed using the Multi-speech 3700 program. Results : Age, gender, and vowel being pronounced all had significant effects on intensity. There was significant decrease with increasing age, and the intensity was significantly higher in male children than female children. Neither age, gender, nor the vowel being produced affected the fundamental frequency. The fundamental frequency produced did not differ by age or gender. The first and second formants had considerable effect on age and vowels, significantly decreased with age, and did not have a gender difference. Conclusion : The results of this study showed that children aged 4~6 have similar anatomical structures, but that maturity of speech motor skills required to pronounce vowels was correlated with age. The results of this study can be used to evaluate children's speech and develop speech therapy programs.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제2권4호
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• pp.223-228
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• 2010

This study investigated the closed quotient and other voice quality parameters using electroglottography (EGG) in sustaining the vowel /a/ and reading a sentence at the comfortable pitch and loudness in healthy Korean adults. Seventy two healthy adults (36 men, 36 women) aged 20~40 years were included in the study. The tasks were recorded and analyzed using Lx Speech Studio. In vowel sustaining task, closed quotient (Qx), fundamental frequency (Fx), sound pressure level (SPL), Jitter, and Shimmer were measured. In sentence reading task, closed quotient (DQx), fundamental frequency (DFx), and sound pressure level (DAx) were measured. The sex effects were observed on Qx, Fx, Shimmer, DQx, and DFx. Men had significantly higher Qx and DQx than women, but had significantly lower Shimmer than women. However, there was no sex effect on Jitter. The task effects on Qx and SPL as well as DQx and DAx were also assessed. Qx and SPL were significantly higher than DQx and DAx in both gender. This study showed that the closed quotients in both vowel sustaining and sentence reading tasks were significantly related to other voice quality parameters. Therefore, clinicians and researchers should describe the voice quality parameters like fundamental frequency, sound pressure level, Jitter, Shimmer, and so on when reporting closed quotients using EGG.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.37-44
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• 2016

The goal of the current study is to investigate how the sound change is reflected in production or in perception, and what the effect of lexical frequency is on the loss of sound contrasts. Specifically, the current study examined whether the vowel length contrasts are retained in Korean speakers' productions, and whether Korean listeners can distinguish vowel length minimal pairs in their perception. Two production experiments and two perception experiments investigated this. For production tests, twelve Korean native speakers in their 20s and 40s completed a read-aloud task as well as a map-task. The results showed that, regardless of their age group, all Korean speakers produced vowel length contrasts with a small but significant differences in the read-aloud test. Interestingly, the difference between long and short vowels has disappeared in the map task, indicating that the speech mode affects producing vowel length contrasts. For perception tests, thirty-three Korean listeners completed a discrimination and a forced-choice identification test. The results showed that Korean listeners still have a perceptual sensitivity to distinguish lexical meaning of the vowel length minimal pair. We also found that the identification accuracy was affected by the word frequency, showing a higher identification accuracy in high- and mid- frequency words than low frequency words. Taken together, the current study demonstrated that the speech mode (read-aloud vs. spontaneous) affects the production of the sound undergoing a language change; and word frequency affects the sound change in speech perception.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.71-81
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• 2011

This paper investigated how prosodic position and word type affect the phonetic structure of Korean coronal stops. Initial segments of prosodic domains were known to be more strongly articulated and longer relative to prosodic domain-medial segments. However, there are few studies examining whether the properties of prosodic domain-initial segments are affected by the information content of words (real vs. nonsense words). In addition, since the scope of domain-initial effect was known to be local to the initial consonant and the effects on the following vowel have been found to be limited, it is thus worth examining whether the prosodic domain-initial effect extends into the vowel after the initial consonant in a systematic way across different prosodic domains. The acoustic properties of Korean coronal stops (lenis /t/, aspirated /$t^h$/, and tense /t'/) were compared across Intonational Phrase, Phonological Phrase and Word-initial positions both in real and nonsense words. The durational intervals such as VOT and CV duration were cumulatively lengthened for /t/ and /$t^h$/ in the higher prosodic domain-initial positions. However, tense stop /t'/ did not show any variation as a function of prosodic position and word type. The domain-initial lenis stop showed significantly longer duration in nonsense words than in real words. But the prosodic domain-initial effect was not found in the properties of F0 and [H1-H2] of the vowel after initial stops. The present study provided evidence that speakers tend to enhance speech clarity when there is less contextual information as in prosodic domain-initial position and in nonsense words.

• 인지과학
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.25-45
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• 1994

본 연구에서는 한글 자사 타자 행동에서 자극-반응 합치도 효과가 나타나는 지의 여부를 알아보았다. 이를 위해 오른손에 2개, 왼손에 2개의 건반을 사용하고 자음과 모음을 담당하는 손을 조작하여 합치도가 높은 조건과 합치도가 낮은 조건으로 나누 었다. 그리고 한글 낱자를 제시하여 피험자로 하여금 가능한 한 빠르고 정확하게 반 응하도록 하고 반응 개시 시간과 반응간 시간을 측정하였다. 그 결과 한글 전사 타자 행동에서 자극-반응 합치도 효과가 나타났다. 즉 합치도가 높은 조건에서 세로 모음 글자를 타자하는 경우 촉진 효과가 나타났으며, 합치도가 낮은 조건에서는 억제 효과 가 나타났다. 그러나 합치도에 중성 자극인 가로 모음 글가에서는 자극-반응 합치도 효과가 나타나지 않았으며, 중성자극이 포함된 종성이 있는 글자에서는 자극-반응 합 치도 효과가 적게 나타났다. 또한 이중 모음 글자에서는 그 효과가 나타지 않았다. 또한 이러한 자극-반응 합치도 효과는 운동개시 시간에만 영향을 주었는데 이는 자극- 반응 합치도 효과가 운동 프로그램을 구성하는 단계에서만 영향을 미침을 나타내는 것이다.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.49-53
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• 2017

Formant frequencies depend on the position of tongue, the shape of lips, and larynx. In the auditory system, the external ear canal is an open-end resonator, which can modify the voice characteristics. This study investigates the effect of the real ear on formant frequencies. Fifteen subjects ranging from 22 to 30 years of age participated in the study. This study employed three corner vowels: the low central vowel /a/, the high front vowel /i/, and the high back vowel /u/. For this study, the voice of a well-educated undergraduate who majored in speech-language pathology, was recorded with a high performance condenser microphone placed in the upper pinna and in the ear canal. Paired t-test showed that there were significant difference in the formant frequencies of F1, F2, F3, and F4 between the free field and the real ear. For /a/, all formant frequencies decreased significantly in the real ear. For /i/, F2 increased and F3 and F4 decreased. For /u/, F1 and F2 increased, but F3 and F4 decreased. It seems that these voice modifications in the real ear contribute to interpreting voice quality and understanding speech, timbre, and individual characteristics, which are influenced by the shape of the outer ear and external ear canal in such a way that formant frequencies become centralized in the vowel space.

• 말소리와 음성과학
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 2023

This study investigated the influences of probabilistic accessibility of the word being produced - as determined by its usage frequency and neighborhood density - on native and high-proficiency L2 speakers' realization of six English monophthong vowels. The native group hyperarticulated the vowels over an expanded acoustic space when the vowel occurred in words with low frequency and high density, supporting the claim that vowel forms are modified in accordance with the probabilistic accessibility of words. However, temporal expansion occurred in words with greater accessibility (i.e., with high frequency and low density) as an effect of low phonotactic probability in low-density words, particularly in attended speech. This suggests that temporal modification in the opposite direction may be part of the phonetic characteristics that are enhanced in communicatively driven focus realization. Conversely, none of these spectral and temporal patterns were found in the L2 group, thereby indicating that even the high-proficiency L2 speakers may not have developed experience-based sensitivity to the modulation of sub-categorical phonetic details indexed with word-level probabilistic information. The results are discussed with respect to how phonological representations are shaped in a word-specific manner for the sake of communicatively driven lexical intelligibility, and what factors may contribute to the lack of native-like sensitivity in L2 speech.

• 대한음성학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한음성학회 2005년도 추계 학술대회 발표논문집
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• pp.189-192
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• 2005

This study investigates the asymmetry effect between acoustics and perception. The examined cues are closure duration, closure voicing, VOT, release, pre-vowel duration, post-vowel duration. Five native speakers of English and 30 Korean college students participated in the present study. The results showed that high level Korean English learners parallels native speakers in their responses, while mid and low level Korean learners are substantially different from natives.