The present study reports perception experiments conducted to examine whether/how English learning Korean listeners hear illusory vowels when they hear illegal onset consonant clusters in English. Identification tests revealed that Korean listeners heard illusory vowels significantly in CC(C) onset clusters (76.6% for correct answers), compared with Sung’s (2009) similar perception study (80.2% by Korean speakers and 96.3% by English speakers). This finding indicates that Korean listeners repair illicit onset clusters to adapt to Korean syllable phonotactics by epenthesizing fake vowels, confirming Dupoux et al. (1999). Furthermore, the degree of perceptual epenthesis differed depending on the number and types of onset consonant clusters. Specifically, illusory vowels were perceived in CCC clusters more than in CC clusters, and in a sequence of obstruents and approximants than in a sequence of /s/ and other consonants. Finally, perceptual epenthesis was performed after fricatives more than after stops in the onset clusters.
1. Introduction
2. Research Questions
3. Experiment 1: Identification
4. Experiment 2: Transcription Test
5. Discussion
6. Conclusion