Role of Linguistic and Extralinguistic Factors in the Acquisition of /w/ Retainment

Role of Linguistic and Extralinguistic Factors in the Acquisition of /w/ Retainment

This study investigates how native Korean speakers, who moved from Kyungsang province to Seoul, acquire /w/ retainment in Seoul Korean (SK). The specific objective is to examine how mobile speakers adopt the SK-like /w/ retainment and evaluate how linguistic and non-linguistic factors influence this acquisition. Furthermore, the study aims to establish whether having explicit awareness of the SK-like /w/ retainment is a prerequisite for acquiring it. The overall results suggest that most speakers have successfully adopted the SK-like /w/ retention, but there is noticeable diversity among speakers in terms of the extent to which they retain /w/. This variability can be linked to linguistic and non-linguistic factors, such as where /w/ appears in speech and individual attitudes towards SK. This research sheds light on the acquisition of /w/ retainment among native Korean speakers who have relocated from Kyungsang province to Seoul, highlighting the impact of linguistic and non-linguistic factors. It underscores the role of explicit awareness and reveals significant interspeaker variation in the adoption of SK-like /w/ retainment, contributing to our understanding of dialect acquisition dynamics.