The role of vertical larynx movement in the tense-lax contrast of Seoul Korean stops across phrasal position

Abstract

In contemporary Seoul Korean (SK), phrasal tone patterns are co-active with tone patterns that distinguish tense and lax stops. Utilizing real-time MRI, the current investigation of the SK stops elucidates the articulatory synergies that distinguish tense versus lax and how they function within SK’s Accentual Phrase (AP) prosodic system. The f0 and corresponding larynx height values were measured from sequences containing the three oral stops of SK placed in AP-initial and AP-internal prosodic positions. Larynx height was obtained by finding the intensity centroid within a locally selected region in the MR image around the larynx. We find a strong positive correlation between f0 and larynx height, indicating that vertical larynx movement is engaged in some tonal manipulation. We confirm the categorical consonant effect on f0 AP-initially (tense >> lax), compared to a gradient effect AP-internally (tense >= lax). In AP-initial position, the larynx height results mirror the f0 results, suggesting that the f0 goals associated with tenseness result in large part from a vertical larynx position manipulation. In AP-internal position, however, larynx height does not differentiate tense versus lax consonants, suggesting that some other articulatory activity, such as vocal fold stretching, is responsible for its f0 variations. [Work supported by NIH.]In contemporary Seoul Korean (SK), phrasal tone patterns are co-active with tone patterns that distinguish tense and lax stops. Utilizing real-time MRI, the current investigation of the SK stops elucidates the articulatory synergies that distinguish tense versus lax and how they function within SK’s Accentual Phrase (AP) prosodic system. The f0 and corresponding larynx height values were measured from sequences containing the three oral stops of SK placed in AP-initial and AP-internal prosodic positions. Larynx height was obtained by finding the intensity centroid within a locally selected region in the MR image around the larynx. We find a strong positive correlation between f0 and larynx height, indicating that vertical larynx movement is engaged in some tonal manipulation. We confirm the categorical consonant effect on f0 AP-initially (tense >> lax), compared to a gradient effect AP-internally (tense >= lax). In AP-initial position, the larynx height results mirror the f0 results, suggesting that the f...