Article
Phonological Variation in Korean: The Case of the “Disappearing w”
Language Variation and Change
(1991)
Abstract
In Korean, the tendency to delete the labiovelar glide w when it appears postconsonantally is conditioned by linguistic, stylistic, and social factors. Chief among these is the place specification for the preceding consonant: labiovelar glides are more likely to be deleted when preceded by a velar than by a labial, alveolar, or alveopalatal. It is proposed that this observation can be explained in terms of current phonological theory, in particular, the notions of feature geometry (Clements 1985; Sagey 1986) and the Obligatory Contour Principle (McCarthy 1986). Under such a model, adjacent segments share common features in ways that promote variability; specifically, the labiovelar glide shares the feature [back] with an adjacent velar (but shares no place features with adjacent labials, alveolars, and alveopalatals), thereby providing structural cohesiveness that inhibits the application of the deletion rule.
Disciplines
- Linguistics and
- Sociology
Publication Date
July, 1991
DOI
10.1017/S0954394500000508
Citation Information
David James Silva. "Phonological Variation in Korean: The Case of the “Disappearing w”" Language Variation and Change Vol. 3 Iss. 2 (1991) p. 153 - 170 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david-silva/9/