Diachronic change in pitch accent and the realization patterns of sentence temporal structure in the Southern Gyeongsang dialect*
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study examines how the recent weakening of the lexical pitch accent in the Southern Gyeongsang dialect influences the temporal structure of sentences, focusing on inter-generational differences. For this purpose, ten sentences, each containing one of five lexical items whose meaning is distinguished by pitch accent in the dialect, were used as analysis data. A total of 20 speakers (10 male and 10 female) across two age groups-20s (mean age: 20.7) and 50s-60s (mean age: 56.7)-participated in the phonological and phonetic experiment. For the phonological analysis, the lexical pitch accent patterns of the target words were investigated, and for the phonetic analysis, acoustic metrics such as %L (rate of target word duration), VarcoS, and nPVI_S were measured. Contrasting HH and LH patterns were observed in the older generation depending on the meaning of the minimal pairs, and clear differences were also found in the values of %L, VarcoS, and nPVI_S. Conversely, among the younger generation, no pitch accent contrast or sentential temporal structure contrast was observed. However, the younger generation's L tone height of the first syllable of each minimal pair differed significantly according to their meaning. Even though this difference does not correlate with a temporal structure contrast, it seems to imply some perceptual distinction. Therefore, although this finding should be supplemented by subsequent perceptual experiments, the pitch accent contrast in the younger generation can be considered to be at the near-merger stage.
Source: Phonetics and Speech Sciences
Author: Youngsook Yune
Institution: Kyungnam University
Language: English
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7124290877