Generational difference in the perception of high-toned [il] in Seoul Korean

Abstract

A word-initial [il] is most frequently H-toned in Seoul Korean (SK) when it means one, out of three homophones, one, day, and work (Jun & Cha, 2011). However, Cho (2014) finds that 25% of teenagers always produce [il] with a H tone, regardless of its meaning. This paper examines how young SK speakers perceive the phenomenon. Thirty-seven SK speakers (aged 14–29) participated in two identification tasks, hearing only [il] in the first task and four [il]-initial minimal pairs in the second task. All target words were manipulated into five pitch levels with 30 Hz intervals. In the first task, the 20s group identified [il] as one 70% of the time at higher pitch levels, while the teenagers identified [il] as one about 50% of the time at all pitch levels. In the second task, the 20s group showed a categorical perception, identifying [il]-initial words as one only at higher pitch levels, while the teenagers did not. The results suggest that the teenagers are aware that some peers always produce [il] with a H tone. It explains that the 20s group could identify the meanings of [il] depending on the pitch, while the teenagers could not.