Chapter published in:
Topics in Theoretical Asian Linguistics: Studies in honor of John B. Whitman
Edited by Kunio Nishiyama, Hideki Kishimoto and Edith Aldridge
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 250] 2018
► pp. 331–341

The role of perceived similarity and contrast

English loanwords into Korean and Japanese

| RIKEN Center for Brain Science
This study explores a pattern of speech perception in Korean and Japanese with special attention to American English vowel /æ/. Two identification tests reveal that Korean speakers pay more attention to the second formant (F2) signaling the backness of a vowel, whereas Japanese speakers are more sensitive to the first formant (F1) signaling the height of a vowel. The distinct sensitivity to different acoustic cues in the languages discussed here is accounted for by two language-specific factors: Different L1 vowel systems and language-specific variations.
Keywords: perceived similarity, language-specificity, native phonology, language experience, Korean, Japanese
Published online: 12 December 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.250.16hwa
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