On the role of contrastivity in the development of the /e $$\sim \upvarepsilon /$$ ∼ ε / merger in Korean

Abstract

This paper seeks to assess the role of functional factors in the development of the /e $$\sim $$ $$\upvarepsilon $$ / unconditioned merger that has taken place in Seoul Korean. We explore several alternative measures of functional load, one measure of phonetic distance evaluated on a perceptual scale, and a simple integrative measure, which combines functional load and phonetic distance into a single ‘contrastivity index.’ Our results show that, while both functional load and perceptual distance hint at the fact that /e $$\sim $$ $$\upvarepsilon $$ / was a weak contrast, this effect is clearest when these two factors are integrated together, especially when functional load is measured as phone-level entropy loss. The proposed metric thus offers a fruitful way of modeling the interaction between functional factors in the development of mergers.