ㅸ>w 변화와 w의 음운론적 성격

ㅸ>w Change and Phonological Character of w

This study regarded that /w/ had functioned as a consonant from the Korean of the Middle Age to that of modern times with regard to changes of ㅸ>w. /w/ is a separate phoneme, not a variation of /u/ since it does not show compensatory distribution with /u/. In addition, glide occurs or glide is inserted as a mean to avoid hiatus since its glide functions as a consonant in the syllable. Glide, w, in modern Korean is the weakening result of /ㅸ/. The trend that glide was inserted to avoid hiatus was conspicuous in the literature from 15-16th century. Weakening of ㅸ might contribute to expansion of distribution of glide w. And the expansion of distribution of glide might increase the frequency that glide was inserted for expansion of distribution of glide. Glide w is consonant, but since it is close to vowel in terms of phonics, it is less restricted by initial consonant cluster constraint in modern Korean.