F0 influence in the perception of Korean initial stops, affricates and fricatives: A comparison between native speakers and Japanese learners

This study examines F0 influence on perception of Korean initial lax, aspirated, and tense consonants by Japanese learners of the Korean language. Stimuli consisted of monosyllabic sounds (/ta, tsa, ta, tsa/) with interchanged F0s, including lax and aspirated consonants. Results from recognition testing of the stimuli found that both beginning and advanced learners paid less attention to stimuli F0 in comparison to native speakers from Seoul. In cases where stimula included a tense stop (/t’a/), a tense affricate (/ts’a/), and a non-tense and a tense fricative (/sa, s’a/), F0 had no significant influence on recognition for the native speakers. In contrast, both the beginners and advanced learners focused on changes in F0, evaluating consonants by the changes. In the acquisition of Korean initial consonants (lax, aspirated, tense), Japanese learners are liable to adopt inaccurate judgment methods of either "insufficient focus on F0" or "excessive focus on F0", with learning experience showing no significant effect on acquisition.