Earticle

초록

영어

This study explores text-setting phenomena in English and Korean children’s songs, asserting that the constraints that regulate the alignment of a specific language to music differ according to the typological and phonological difference of the language. Within the Optimality Theory framework, the two representative constraints that pertain to text-setting are tested with children’s songs in English and Korean. As a result, the metrical constraint critically operates for universal text-setting patterns in English verses, whereas the grouping constraint ranks high for Korean verses. These reversed rankings represent that English follows a stress-to-beat mapping system while Korean versification works at a syllable-to-note mapping system. Based on this difference, this study attempts to observe the text-setting patterns in English children’s songs by native Korean speakers. Through the analysis, it is observed that English versification by native Korean speakers shows different text-setting patterns from the universal patterns by native English speakers. The Korean participants prefer to fulfill the grouping constraint rather than the metrical constraint in English text-setting. In addition, the native phonological grammar also affects English syllabification since vowel epenthesis occurs after an obstruent coda in English lyrics. This nativization process of English verse causes idiosyncratic text-setting form by native Korean speakers. Through the analyses, it is suggested that the relative importance of constraints depends on a specific language, and that the native phonology can affect the versification of a foreign language.

목차

1. Introduction
2. Children’s songs and Optimality Theory
2.1. English case study
2.2. Korean case study
3. Experiment
3.1. Subjects
3.2. Task
3.3. Results
4. Discussion and Conclusion
References
[Abstract]

저자

• Gayeon Son [ Kwangwoon University ]

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