Korean adaptation of English affricates and fricatives in a feature-driven model of loanword adaptation

The present study aims to elaborate on Kim’s (2007a) feature-driven model ofloanword adaptation, based on Korean adaptation of English affricates andfricatives (/f, v, th, ð, s, z, ∫, ӡ, tӡ, dӡ) which the host language (L1) does notpossess except /s/. We propose an L1 grammar-driven perception of L2 (sourcelanguage) sounds in that a Korean speakers’ perception is driven by native (L1)distinctive features and syllable structure rather than in terms of the unstructuredL2 acoustical input per se or of L2 phonological categories. In addition, nativestructural restrictions are proposed to come into play when L2 sounds scannedby L1 grammar are lexicalized as new words in L1 lexical representations. It isalso suggested that an L2 acoustic signal can be constrained by L1 distinctivefeatures by virtue of normalization or generalization, when the L2 signal has noacoustic cues to L1 distinctive features, indicating that L1 grammar exerts a forcein perception.