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Phonological Contrast between Korean and Thai in Terms of Language Universality
Cross-Cultural Studies
2014,
35(), pp.293-314
DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2014.35..293
Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
Research Area : Literature
DOI : 10.21049/ccs.2014.35..293
Publisher : Center for Cross Culture Studies
Research Area : Literature
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Phonological Contrast between Korean and Thai in Terms ofLanguage UniversalityKim, Seon-JungThis paper aims to contrast phonology of Korean and Thai in terms oflanguage universality. Considering consonants, both languages having 21typologically most plausible consonants display high universality in the numberof consonants. However, Thai shows higher universality in regards to theirsubstance, i.e. it differs from Korean when it comes to the structure of plosivesand fricatives. Both Korean and Thai show similarities regarding the plosivesdue to the fact that both languages possess three contrastive consonants. However, the Thai plosives consist of plain voiced, plain voiceless and aspiratedvoiceless sounds that have higher universality than the Korean plosives whichare plain voiced, plain voiceless and aspirated voiceless. In case of vowels, both Korean with its 10 vowels and Thai with its 9 vowelsshow lower universality when it comes to the total number of vowels. However,all of those vowels belong to the list of most plausible vowels which makes theiruniversality higher in substance. In respect of syllable structure, Korean with its CVC type shows a moderatelycomplex structure while Thai with its CCVC type has a complex structure. Thecoda may consist of only one consonant in each language but onset is composedof one consonant in Korean, and two consonants in Thai. The contrastive study of similarities and differences between Korean and Thaiin terms of phonology will help not only understand the two languages but alsoprovide useful information for increasing the efficacy of Korean languageeducation for Thai learners of Korean whose number is rapidly increasing.
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