Phoneme and Syllable Frequencies Based on the Analysis of Entries in the Korean Dictionary

Shin, Jiyoung

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2010;15(1): 94-106.

Jiyoung Shin^`

신지영(Jiyoung Shin)

ABSTRACT

Background & Objectives
The aim of the present study is to provide information on the occurrence frequencies of Korean phoneme and syllable units based on the careful analysis of entries inthe Korean Dictionary. Information on phoneme and syllable frequencies of the entries is a fundamental knowledge component of the Korean language.
Methods
Using 47,401 entries from the Yonsei Korean Dictionary, the occurrence frequencies for units of Korean phonemes and syllables were analyzed. Pronunciations of all the entries were manually checked, and SynKDP 1.5.2 was used to calculate thephoneme and syllable frequencies.
Results
A total of 122,761 syllables and 290,131 phonemes were observed from 47,401 entries, with 65.8% of consonants occupying the onset position in the syllable structure. Among 36 phonemes, /ɑ/ showed the highest frequency, and /ɰi/ showed the lowest frequency. Among 19 consonants, /k/ occupied the highest ranking, and /n/, /ŋ, /l/, and /ʨ/ were the next rankings, in that order. Syllable frequency was also investigated. A total of 1,283 syllable types were observed. However, the most frequent 82 syllable types, i.e., 6.4% of all observed syllable types, accounted for over 50% of the data.
Discussion & Conclusion
Information on the phoneme and syllable frequencies of entries in the Korean dictionary is a fundamental knowledge component of the Korean language. Therefore, this type of information is useful not only for Korean linguistics, but also speech pathology, Korean language teaching, and speech engineering