Acoustic and aerodynamic studies of Korean vowel devoicing

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that Korean high vowels are highly likely to be devoiced between fricatives and aspirated consonants based on acoustic and EMG data [Hirose (1974); Kim et al. (1993); Jun and Beckman (1993, 1994)]. In this paper, intraoral air pressure during vowel devoicing was examined together with acoustic data. Intraoral pressure was collected by inserting a sense tube Gaeltec S7b through the nostrils to the oropharynx, and the data were measured using the high-speed speech analysis system at RILP, Univ. of Tokyo. Three native Korean speakers repeated test words [siC] in a phrase at a normal and fast rate. The results show that there are four types of intraoral air pressure configurations: (1) completely devoiced vowel—a single peak rising during [s] and falling after C; (2) completely voiced vowel—a small peak during [s] and a fall during [i] and a bigger peak during C; (3) partially devoiced vowel, I—a single peak with a plateau or shoulder during [i]; (4) partially devoiced vowel, II—a high peak from [s] to C with a few quasiperiodic waves during [i]. More aerodynamic measurements based on EGG, airflow, and oral air pressure will be examined to understand the glottal gestures during the partially devoiced vowels.