제주어 화자에서 ‘아래 아’(/ㆍ/) 조음의 영상의학적 및 음향학적 특성

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to explore the radiological and acoustic characteristics of “Arae-a” (/ㆍ/) articulation in two male Jeju language speakers, focusing on selected measures in radiological images derived from computed tomography scans, as well as the first and the second formant measures in selected vowels. An elderly male speaker (a 78-year-old) and a young male speaker (a 34-year-old) participated in the study. During the production of four selected vowels , the shape of the vocal tract was identified, and selected measures were obtained from the elderly participant’s computed tomography (CT) scans. For acoustic analysis, the participants were given a list of near-minimal pairs consisting of 112 words and asked to read them aloud. The results indicated that the “Arae-a” (/ㆍ/) articulation of the elderly speaker showed unique acoustic and radiological characteristics compared to other similar vowels, thus presenting substantial consistency with the descriptions of the “Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon.” In contrast, the F1 and F2 measures of the young male’s /ㆍ/ articulation were not distinguished from those of /ㅗ/. Current results, in part, support the scientific principles underlying the invention of “Arae-a,” which reflects the shape of the vocal tract during production, and the necessity for further research.