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Main Authors: Kim, Ji-eun, Dellwo, Volker
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.25133
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author Kim, Ji-eun
Dellwo, Volker
author_facet Kim, Ji-eun
Dellwo, Volker
contents Korean aegyo is a socially recognized childlike speaking style used predominantly in romantic interactions among adults. This study examined vowel space modification in aegyo by analyzing formant frequencies from twelve Seoul Korean speakers who produced identical scripts in aegyo and non-aegyo styles. Results show that aegyo speech features a significant increase in F1 values across vowels and selective fronting of front vowels, leading to vowel space expansion but mainly a shift to higher F1. These findings suggest that adult speakers stylize childlike speech by imitating the shorter vocal tract of children, mainly through global vowel lowering and partial fronting.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_25133
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Korean aegyo speech shows systematic F1 increase to signal childlike qualities
Kim, Ji-eun
Dellwo, Volker
Computation and Language
Sound
Audio and Speech Processing
Korean aegyo is a socially recognized childlike speaking style used predominantly in romantic interactions among adults. This study examined vowel space modification in aegyo by analyzing formant frequencies from twelve Seoul Korean speakers who produced identical scripts in aegyo and non-aegyo styles. Results show that aegyo speech features a significant increase in F1 values across vowels and selective fronting of front vowels, leading to vowel space expansion but mainly a shift to higher F1. These findings suggest that adult speakers stylize childlike speech by imitating the shorter vocal tract of children, mainly through global vowel lowering and partial fronting.
title Korean aegyo speech shows systematic F1 increase to signal childlike qualities
topic Computation and Language
Sound
Audio and Speech Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.25133