Markedness and Pronunciation Difficulties: Coda Clusters in Korean-English Interphonology

Markedness and Pronunciation Difficulties: Coda Clusters in Korean-English Interphonology

Across natural languages. consonants in syllable margins are known to be sequenced in decreasing sonority from the syllable peak. Consonant clusters in onsets are sequenced to rise in sonority toward the nucleus while consonant clusters in codas are arranged to fall in sonority from the nucleus. Sonority restricting consonants in syllable margins in natural languages also appears to govern the acquisition of consonant clusters in second languages. There have been two major proposals for the L2 acquisition of consonant clusters in syllable margins: the Minimal Sonority Distance Parameter and typological markedness along with the Sonority Dispersion Principle. This paper investigates the L2 acquisition of consonant clusters in codas by Korean learners of English. I discuss the extent to which the two proposals can characterize the L2 acquisition of the two-member coda clusters by Korean-English learners and show that both the proposals fail to offer an adequate account of the acquisition of the coda clusters. I argue that typological markedness defined in terms of segmental and sequential implications need to be collaborated for the adequate characterization of the acquisition of the two-member coda clusters by Korean learners of English.