Perceptual Studies of Japanese Geminate Insertion Phenomena Based on Timing Control Characteristics

The present study investigated the identification of geminate and singleton consonants in Japanese by native Korean learners of Japanese. Moreover, the present study analyzed the relationship between the learners’ identification errors and timing control factors. Results revealed a geminate insertion phenomenon, along with a systematic phonetic and perceptual explanation for the phenomenon. The analyses showed that native Korean listeners use multiple perceptual cues that depend on timing control factors such as speaking rate and segment duration.