Frequencies of Korean Phonemes and Reliability of Korean Phonetically Balanced Word Lists / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Recent advances in the computer technology and the explosive increase in the internet contents have made it possible for us to calculate the exact frequencies of phonemes in the everyday dialogue of the Korean language, which can provide the basic data for the standardization of Korean phonetically balanced (PB) word lists. This study was aimed to investigate the frequencies of Korean phonemes and to compare the results with the existing Korean PB words lists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The author has developed a computer program that can convert words into written sentences as they are pronounced, and calculate the frequencies of the Korean phonemes. This study used 10 materials (total 171,824 syllables) collected from several TV dramas and news shows. RESULTS: All materials showed a similar trend in the frequency pattern. According to the results, the existing PB words lists had too many /m/,/b/,/o/,/u/'s and too few /n/,/d/,/r/,/e/,/eu/,/i/'s. The most prominent discrepancy existed in the final consonants. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that the existing PB words lists need to be modified to reflect actual frequencies of phonemes.