Intonation patterns in productions by Seoul Korean speakers of English

Abstract

This study compares the intonation patterns produced in English declaratives and yes–no questions by native American English speakers and native Korean speakers. As is well known, stress and pitch accent are integral to English intonation. Declaratives are produced with an F0-rise (L+H*) in the stressed syllable of the most prominent word followed by a steep utterance-final fall while yes–no questions are produced with a sharp F0-fall (L*) onto the stressed syllable followed by a gradual utterance-final rise. Words that follow the focused word are not associated with any particular F0 pattern. In contrast, Korean has neither stress nor pitch accent. Prominent words in statements and questions are produced at the beginning of a phrase and realized with an F0-rise (LH) followed by a gradual fall to the end of statements (L%) and a final rise (LH%) in questions. In this study, subjects from both subject groups produced the words ‘‘memorial’’ and ‘‘memorizes’’ in both focus and post-focus positions in both statements and yes–no questions. The question of interest is whether Korean speakers follow the intonational pattern of English (their L2) or utilize the intonational characteristics of their native language.