Comparative Magnetic Resonance Imaging analysis of alveolar sound articulation in Korean, Chinese, English, and German

This study examines the articulatory differences of alveolar sounds in Korean, Chinese, English, and German using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology. Data were collected from 32 Seoul Korean speakers and 3 Chinese speakers. English data came from five speakers courtesy of the USC SPAN group, and German data from a Youtube video by the Max Planck Society.Results revealed significant cross-linguistic and intra-linguistic variations. In Korean, /t*/ and /n/ were primarily articulated as apico-denti-alveolar by 21 and 18 speakers, respectively, with some using lamino-alveolar articulation (11 and 14 speakers). The Korean /l/ showed considerable variability: 15 speakers employed apico-denti-alveolar articulation, 9 apico-alveolar, 5 retroflex, and 3 lamino-alveolar. In Chinese, /d/, /l/, and /n/ were predominantly articulated as apico-denti-alveolar, with singleexceptions: /d/ as lamino-alveolar, /l/ as apico-alveolar, and /n/ as dorso-palatal. In English, /n/ and /l/ were predominantly articulated as apico-alveolar, except for one instance of apico-denti-alveolar /l/. The sounds /t/ and /d/ were split between apico-alveolar (three speakers) and lamino-alveolar articulations (two speakers). The German speaker consistently produced all alveolar sounds as apico-denti-alveolar.