The Journal of Studies in Language ISSN:1225-4770(Print) 2671-6151(Online) 언어연구

This study aims to clarify the difference in the intonation between North Korean defectors’ speech from Hamgyeong-do and the speech of Seoul dialect speakers in an experimental phonetic method. The study results are as follows: First, the Seoul dialect speaker group has a wider pitch range within the same sentences than the Hamgyeong dialect speaker group. Second, the difference between the Seoul dialect speaker group and the Hamgyeong dialect speaker group is more significant in low-pitched sentences than in the high-pitched sentences. Third, in interrogative sentences, the Seoul dialect speaker group tends to speak in a rising tone. In contrast, the Hamgyeong dialect speaker group tends to speak in a horizontal tone. The three-way analysis of variance confirmed the group’s main effects in 4 out of 5 items in both the declarative and the interrogative sentences and the interaction effects. It is confirmed that there are statistically significant differences in groups X genders and groups X sentence types.