The social meaning of rising-falling tone in a ‘reality’ TV show

This study discusses the social meaning of LHL% (rising-falling tone in IP final) in Seoul Korean, and shows the two kinds of LHL% contours that depend on the phonetic details of the contours. The data consist of popular “pseudo-reality” TV show called ‘we got married,’ where the female characters switch styles between a rational interview style and emotional, conversational style. What clearly characterizes the two styles is the phonetic pattern of LHL%—pitch and duration as the speakers use more phonetically extreme contours in a conversational style. The non-expressive LHL%, with the mild phonetic contour, functions as a “smoother,” while the expressive LHL%, with the extreme contour, has various emotional functions. Thus, this paper argues that while the “smoother” function can be the basis of social meanings of LHL%, the phonetic details, which make the variable more salient, are more important in shaping the social meaning and speaker stances.