earticle

영어

This paper has examined the fundamental reasons why Korean students have difficulties in pronouncing Japanese initial stops. Some textbooks say that this is because Korean stops, unlike Japanese stops, have no voicing contrasts. However, what is said by these textbooks is inappropriate to explain why the pronunciation of English stops which have voicing contrasts like Japanese is not a serious problem for Korean students. Through the observation of VOT which is an important feature for distinguishing voicing contrasts with the stops of three languages, this paper has noticed the followings: First, the VOT of Japanese voiced stops showed only negative values in the past, whereas the VOT of English voiced stops can show positive values. Second, when compared with the VOT of English voiceless stops, the VOT of Japanese voiceless stops is relatively short. The VOT of English voiceless stops is closer to Korean aspirated consonants, and the VOT of English voiced stops to Korean lax stops. Thus, there is no big problem, even if Korean aspirated/lax stops are pronounced for English voiceless/voiced stops. However, the VOT of Japanese voiceless stops is short and it is much closer to Korean lax stops and, thus, if Korean students pronounce Korean lax stops for Japanese voiced stops, this sounds as voiceless stops to Japanese native speakers, and the Japanese native speakers' pronunciation of voiceless stops is heard as Korean lax stops to Korean students and recognized as voiced stops to them. The difficulties Korean students have in pronouncing Japanese stops should not be regarded as a consequence of the nonexistence of voicing contrasts but should be explained with the specific aspects of VOT. The presentation of the aspects of VOT will help Korean students' comprehension.