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Article published In: Asia-Pacific Language Variation
Vol. 3:1 (2017) ► pp.41–66

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Parallel Voice Onset Time shift in Chinese Korean

A case for linguistic drift

 | Kennesaw State University
 | Salem State University
Published online: 28 September 2017
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https://doi.org/10.1075/aplv.3.1.03jin
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.
Abstract (Chinese)
中国朝鲜语中的VOT平行变化：一则语言学漂流案例
本项研究揭示了居住在中国东北部的朝鲜语本族人的语言中存在着VOT变化，而这一变化与韩国、美国、加拿大的韩语中所报道的变化是平行的。中国朝鲜语社区中观察到的这一VOT变化，不能简单地从近期的方言接触而传播的角度予以解释，也不是一个多世纪以前移植到中国时从源语言直接传承下来的一个特性。我们认为是“漂流”的力量支配这些平行的VOT变化，驱使不同的韩语方言沿着相似的语言轨迹演化。本项研究展示了一个有趣的案例，由“漂流”驱动的内部变化实际上可以由语言/方言接触引发并得到其进一步支持。
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Processes leading to language similarity
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1The community
    • 3.2The data
    • 3.3Acoustic measurement
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Lee, Hyunjung, Jeffrey J. Holliday & Eun Jong Kong
2020. Diachronic change and synchronic variation in the Korean stop laryngeal contrast. Language and Linguistics Compass 14:7 DOI logo
Schertz, Jessamyn, Yoonjung Kang & Sungwoo Han
2019. Sources of variability in phonetic perception: The joint influence of listener and talker characteristics on perception of the Korean stop contrast. Laboratory Phonology: Journal of the Association for Laboratory Phonology 10:1 ► pp. 13 ff. DOI logo

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