High-toned [il] in Korean: Phonetics, intonational phonology, and sound change

• Seoul Korean speakers produce a high tone on [il] AP-initially.
• This is a violation of the intonational phonology of Seoul Korean.
• This phenomenon is found in the speech of Seoul Korean born since 1970.
• This phenomenon is found the most often when [il] means ‘Number 1’.
• This phenomenon is due in part to the perceptual confusion between [il] ‘1’ and [i] ‘2’.

This study investigates recent changes in Korean intonation where an Accentual Phrase-initial [il] syllable is produced with a High tone by some speakers, introducing an exception to the model of intonational phonology of Seoul Korean (Jun, 1993, Jun, 1996 and Jun, 2006). Data from eighty speakers of Seoul Korean born between 1952 and 1990 show that this phenomenon, found most often when [il] means ‘Number 1’, is employed by Seoul speakers born since 1970, and is not triggered by glottalization at vowel onset. It is proposed that enhancing a perceptual distinction between two similar-sounding morphemes is one of the major motivations for this phenomenon, and various factors affecting this High-toned-[il] phenomenon are examined. In the discussion, the tonal change on [il] is compared with the changes in the VOT values in Korean stops which have been claimed to have been initiated by the same age groups in the same dialect. Finally, individual variation and the implications of this phenomenon for the model of intonational phonology of Seoul Korean are discussed.