On the Sino-Korean Coda /-l/

The Middle Chinese ending -t consistently corresponds to the Sino-Korean coda /-l/, whereas the Middle Chinese endings -p and -k correspond to the Sino-Korean codas /-p/and /-k/, respectively. Modern Korean phonology allows /-t/at the coda position as numbers of " native" Korean words end with /-t/. How did Sino-Korean get /-l/for Middle Chinese -t? The question has been attracting a number of scholars' attention, yet it still merits further discussion. This paper examines the Sino-Korean coda /-l/from the perspective of phonological nativization. Old Korean had two contrastive alveolar consonant codas, namely *-t and *-r. Old Korean consonants were released at the coda position contrary to Modern Korean consonant codas. A marked difference between released and unreleased consonant codas is the release of airflow. After the block of air in the oral cavity, released consonant codas involve the release of airflow, while unreleased consonant codas do not involve the release of airflow. On the basis of this phenomenon, this paper argues that Old Korean speakers adapted Chinese ending [-t.] as *-r rather than *-t to approximate the Old Korean released coda to unreleased Chinese ending [-t.]. Afterward, Old Korean *-r developed into modern Korean /-l/as the Korean consonant coda changed from released to unreleased.