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This study investigates the acoustic characteristics of Korean aegyo speech, a childlike speaking style used in romantic contexts. By analyzing formant frequencies in aegyo and non-aegyo speech from Seoul Korean speakers, the research reveals a systematic increase in F1 values across vowels, indicating a global vowel lowering. This suggests that speakers mimic the shorter vocal tracts of children to signal childlike qualities through stylized speech.
Want to sound cute? Korean speakers systematically raise their F1 formant when using "aegyo" speech, effectively mimicking a smaller vocal tract.
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.
