Post-lexical Tensing Rule in Korean

Abstract

This paper investigates the phonetic motivation for post-stop tensing rule. It first recognizes the structural similarity between tense stop in intervocalic position and the lax stop that occurs after another stop in the phrase: namely, that both of these segments are preceded by long closure duration, the former by its intrinsic long closure duration and the latter by the combined closure duration of the stop cluster. In order to show that long closure duration of these segments may affect tensing judgments in Korean just like the long closure duration affects voicing judgments in Germanic languages, this paper conducts two perception experiments. In Experiment 1, the first syllable with the following short closure duration in /CVta/ was replaced with the first syllable with the following long closure duration in /CVT*a/. In Experiment 2, the first syllable /CV/ with the following short closure duration in /CVta/ was replaced with the first /CVC/ syllable with the following long closure duration in /CVCta/. These perception experiments show that post-stop tensing rule is phonetically well motivated phonological rule in Korean.