Article
Parallel Voice Onset Time shift in Chinese Korean
Asia-Pacific Language Variation
(2017)
Abstract
This study reveals the existence of a Voice Onset Time shift in the Korean spoken by native speakers residing in northeast China, a shift parallel to those reported in other Korean varieties in Korea, the USA, and Canada. The VOT pattern observed in the Chinese Korean community is argued to represent a change that cannot be simply explained in terms of diffusion via recent dialect contact, or as a feature directly inherited from the source language when it was transplanted into China over a century ago. We suggest that behind the parallel VOT shifts is the power of “drift” that drives the different Korean varieties along similar journeys of language evolution. This study presents an intriguing case where internal changes driven by “drift” may actually be initiated and further supported by language/dialect contact.
Keywords
- Voice onset time (VOT),
- parallel shift,
- drift,
- Chinese Korean,
- language change
Disciplines
Publication Date
September 19, 2017
DOI
10.1075/aplv.3.1.03jin
Citation Information
David Silva. "Parallel Voice Onset Time shift in Chinese Korean" Asia-Pacific Language Variation Vol. 3 Iss. 1 (2017) p. 41 - 66 ISSN: 2215-1354 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david-silva/15/