Perception of Japanese moraic-nasal (/N/) sounds followed by a vowel: A comparison of Japanese native speakers and Korean learners of Japanese

Abstract

This study examines the difference in the perception of the Japanese moraic-nasal (/N/) between Japanese native speakers (J) and Korean learners of Japanese (K). The intervocalic /N/ is generated not solely as nasal vowels (or vowels) but includes variations such as completely closed nasal stop [ŋ] (or [N]) in the oral cavity and the intermediates between these two. On the other hand, in the Korean language, it is necessary to clearly distinguish the place of articulatory (/m, n, ŋ/) on the nasal codas. Therefore, there is thepossibility of differences in the perception of /N/ between J and K due to differing attentiveness towards the degree of closure. This study employs the meaningful word (/goseNeN/: five thousand yen) consisting of five morae. Seven Japanese native speakers are asked to naturally pronounce /goseNeN/ to collect various sounds at the third mora of the test word. Sixty listeners (J:30, K:30) participated in the perception experiment and were instructed to identify stimuli by choosing one of two choices (/goseNeN/, /gose:eN/: encouragement). The results showed that the J judgment rate of /N/ is higher than that of the K. In conclusion, K depend on “the degree of closure” more than J in judgments of /N/.