중복자음의 모라성

Moracity of Geminates

The purpose of this paper is to review the moracity of Korean geminates argued in previous studies. They assume that a geminate consonant is underlyingly moraic (Kang 1991, Han 1992, Jun 1994). However, Tak & Davis (1994) argue that non-derived tense consonants, which are nonmoraic, pattern phonologically as single consonants, whereas derived tense consonants, which are moraic, function as geminates. I show that geminates do not contribute to mora count in Korean, and that syllables containing geminates, either syllable-initial or syllable final, pattern with light syllables in high tone assignment of North Kyungsang dialect and in umlaut. Umlaut applies over an intervening geminate consonant, whether derived or non-derived. Contrary to the claim of the previous studies, this evidence supports the view of geminates as underlyingly nonmoraic in Korean. Nonmoracity of geminates maintains not only the widely accepted claim that moras are excluded from the onset but also the Principle of Equal Weight for Codas (Tranel 1991).