So far, we have observed Korean sounds at the segmental level. In particular, we have considered the phonetic characteristics of each sound. However, the same sound can have different phonetic realisations; for instance, /ɑ/ can be produced either with high pitch or low pitch, as a long vowel or a short vowel, and sometimes loudly or quietly. This is not only the case for individual sounds but also for sequences of sounds or segments. Hence, the same sequence of sounds (or segments) may be realised with a different pitch, loudness or length, and these are known as ‘supra-segmental features’ or ‘prosodic features’. The term ‘supra-segmental features’ emphasises the sound ‘unit’ in which those features appear. By contrast, the term ‘prosodic features’ draws emphasis to the sound properties that are manifested within the sequence of segments. We will use the term ‘prosodic features’ throughout this chapter, since we are more interested in the nature of sound properties than the sound units bearing these properties.

In this chapter, we will discuss the prosody of Korean: in 7.1, we will examine the linguistic function of prosody; 7.2 will provide an overview of the prosodic structure of Korean; 7.3–7.6 look at each of the linguistic units which comprise the prosodic structure of Korean from the syllable, the smallest unit, to the phonological word, phonological phrase, and finally the intonational phrase; and in 7.7, we conclude.