Evans, Bronwen G; Shin, Rakgyun; Lo, Justin; (2023) Being North Korean in Koreatown: The role of identity & experience in accommodation in the London North Korean community. In: Skarnitzl, Radek and Volín, Jan, (eds.) Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences – ICPhS 2023. (pp. pp. 3537-3541). The International Phonetic Association: Prague, Czech Republic.

Preview

Text EVans.pdf - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

North Korean refugees living in South Korea frequently adopt a Standard Seoul accent to avoid stigmatization, but in New Malden (London, UK), they are an active part of the large Korean community. In this study, we investigate accommodation in North Koreans in New Malden, focussing on the vowel /ʌ/, which is produced differently in North and South Korean accents. Results demonstrate that whilst age of arrival in South Korea affects production of /ʌ/, identity drives the outcome of accommodation. In read speech, those who left North Korea before age 16yrs (early leavers) patterned more closely with South Koreans than did late leavers. However, in a conversational task, both groups diverged from rather than converged to their South Korean interlocutor. Interview responses showed a clear sense of solidarity within the New Malden North Korean community and we argue that these speakers used this variable to reclaim and index their North Korean identity.

Download activity - last month

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Archive Staff Only

View Item