Supralaryngeal Articulatory Characteristics of Coronal Consonants /n, t, th, t*/ in Korean

Abstract

The present study investigates supralaryngeal articulatory characteristics of denti-alveolar (coronal) stops /t, th, t*/ and /n/ in /aCa/ context in Seoul Korean. An Electromagnetic Articulograph (EMA, Carstens) was used to explore kinematics of the consonants by examining the kinematic data of the tongue tip (the primary articulator for the coronal consonants), along with some additional supplementary position data of the tongue body, the tongue dorsum and the jaw. The results showed that the constriction duration was the most robust articulatory correlates of the three-way stop contrast with a pattern of /t/</th/</t*/. The contrast was further reinforced by the tongue body position (higher for /th, t*/) and the tongue tip opening displacement (less displaced for /th, t*/). The articulation of /n/ was quite similar to that of the lenis /t/ in terms of the constriction duration,and it was different from the oral stops in that it was produced with larger tongue tip displacement and lower jaw position than the oral stops, indicating its weak articulatory nature. The results are also discussed in comparison with those of bilabial stops with implications that the three-way contrast may be kinematically expressed differently depending on the physiological constraints imposed on the primary articulator (the tongue tip versus the lips). The present study, therefore, provides new articulatory (kinematic) data of denti-alveolar consonants in Korean, and demonstrates that the three-way stops, that have been known to differ primarily in their laryngeal settings, are indeed produced with kinematic distinctions at the supralaryngeal level.