Metrical Identity Effects of Phonological Variants : Vowel Lengthening in Korean

Abstract

Vowel lengthening occurring in (Standard) Seoul korean (SK) hiatus-resolving processes is unique in the sense that it can be induced only by optional processes. Based on the assumption that SK is not a genuine language displaying compensatory lengthening, vowel lengthening in SK has been analyzed as a foot-based, metrical process. The critical relation between vowel lengthening and the operational property, that is, optionality of hiatus-resolving processes has been captured by the notion of Output-Output Correspondence relation between surface output forms. Like the OO-Identity Effect attested between morphologically-related words, vowel lengthening in SK is an intriguing instance of OO-Identity Effect between phonological variants. Through vowel lengthening, the metrical identity between phonological variants can be clearly enhanced.