earticle

영어

Old literature on Korean coda simplification assumed that cluster reduction is complete and obligatory. In recent, there is a growing agreement that consonant clusters are phonetically realized by some speakers. Nonetheless, there is no kinematic study, to the author's knowledge, which investigate incomplete neutralization in Korean coda simplification. In the present study, the consonant cluster /lk/ followed by ‘-ta’ (i.e., the /lkt/ sequence as in /malk-ta/) was examined across various vowel contexts, using ultrasound imaging (USI) device and electromagnetic articulography (EMA). USI was sufficient to show gestural differences between /lkt/ sequences and /kt/ sequences (e.g., /mak-ta/). Results of EMA study showed that (i) up-and-down movements of the tongue body and the velocity of its movements were smallest in production of /lt/ sequences (e.g., /mal-ta/) and (ii) up-and-down movement of the tongue tip was greatest in production of /kt/ sequences. Findings from the present study suggest that the /k/ and /l/ gestures in /lkt/ sequences are as complete as those in /kt/ and /lt/ sequences, respectively. The present study ends by emphasizing potential benefits of using EMA for research on speech science.