The analysis of phonetic fine-tuning for less frequent nasalization developed in native Korean speakers' English production

Abstract

In Korean, a preceding stop sound is obligatorily nasalized by an immediately following nasal stop. Interestingly, this nasalization also occurs in English but less often than in Korean. Based on the difference in nasalization between English and Korean, this study investigated the degree and frequency of nasalization made by native English and Korean speakers when they produce the English stops /b, d, g, p, t, k/ before the nasals sounds /m, n/ in sentences. Twenty-five participants performed the task to speak 12 target items mixed with filler sentences. The results revealed that the native English speakers rarely nasalized the stops before the nasal sounds. On the contrary, the native Korean speakers generally nasalized them while each individual showed the different degree and frequency of nasalization from no nasalization to complete nasalization. It was also discovered that the voiced stops were more frequently nasalized than the voiceless stops across the Korean participants. Besides, the higher their English proficiency, the less likely nasalization appeared. It signifies that phonetic fine-tuning for less frequent nasalization in English develops among Korean speakers as they become more proficient in English.