Invariant articulatory bases of the features [tense] and [spread glottis] in Korean plosives: New stroboscopic cine-MRI data

Abstract

In earlier work, we found that the fortis and aspirated coronal consonants /t h, t′, ts h, ts′, s′/ of Korean have more concomitant tongue and larynx raising than the lenis consonants /t, ts, s/ and that the aspirated consonants have greater glottal opening than the other series. The concomitant tongue and larynx raising and the glottal opening were proposed to be invariant articulatory correlates of the features [+tense] and [+spread glottis], respectively: fortis and aspirated consonants are specified as [+tense] and aspirated as [+spread glottis]; otherwise consonants are [−tense] and [−spread glottis]. The present study aims to determine whether this description generalizes to the full set of Korean plosives, including labials and dorsals. For this purpose, values of lip, tongue and jaw displacements, vertical larynx movements and glottal width in the Korean coronal and non-coronal plosive consonants /t, t h, t′, p, p h, p′, k, k h, k′/ were obtained from midsagittal and coronal MRI data from the same two native speakers as in the earlier work. It is concluded that the feature [±tense] is defined in terms of the tensing of both the primary articulator (lips, tongue blade or dorsum) and the vocal folds and that the feature [±spread glottis] is defined in terms of glottal opening, as in Halle and Stevens [(1971). A note on laryngeal features. Quarterly progress report (vol. 101, pp. 198–212). Cambridge, MA: Research Laboratory of Electronics, MIT]. These attributes appear to be invariant in Korean, as long as we interpret invariance as relative rather than absolute. This model is shown to provide a better fit to the phonetic data than several alternative proposals.