Effects of speaking rate on the vowel length distinction in Korean

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of speaking rate on vowel duration in Korean, a language traditionally described as having phonemic vowel length. Results showed that the long and short members of the vowel length contrast were similarly affected across speaking rates, that the durations of short vowels spoken at a slow rate were always longer than short vowels spoken at a fast rate, and that short vowels spoken at a slow rate almost always overlapped in duration with long vowels spoken at a fast rate. These results contrast with findings for temporal dimensions in consonants which show asymmetries between short and long members of the phonetic contrast, with the short member serving as a phonetic anchor. Results also showed that the distinction between short and long vowels emerged less consistently in sentential context than in isolation. Finally, the data suggest that the vowel length distinction is being lost in Korean and is no longer a productive contrast.