Book contents
- Korean
- Korean
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Background
- Part II Language Structure
- 4 Phonology and Phonetics
- 5 Morphology
- 6 Morphosyntax: Case, Grammatical Relations, and Nominalization
- 7 Syntax
- 8 Syntax–Semantics Interface
- Part III Language in Context
- Index
- References
4 - Phonology and Phonetics
from Part II - Language Structure
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2019
- Korean
- Korean
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Background
- Part II Language Structure
- 4 Phonology and Phonetics
- 5 Morphology
- 6 Morphosyntax: Case, Grammatical Relations, and Nominalization
- 7 Syntax
- 8 Syntax–Semantics Interface
- Part III Language in Context
- Index
- References
Summary
Chapter 4 introduces the phonetics and phonology of Korean. In this realm as well, Korean is frequently cited as an unusual example of a language with a three-way distinction among obstruents without a contrast in voicing. In recent years this property has attracted renewed attention, as the aspiration contrast appears to be giving way to a prosodic or tonal distinction. Korean is thus a rare example of an intensively studied, major world language undergoing the process of tonogenesis. Korean is also notable for its processes of consonant cluster reduction, which give rise to a striking difference between underlying and surface forms in many environments. Finally, many dialects of Korean have lexical pitch accent. We discuss the differences between these varieties and the prosody of standard Korean.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- KoreanA Linguistic Introduction, pp. 63 - 95Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019