THE MECHANISM OF SINO-KOREAN PALATALIZATION

This article examines Korean pronunciation of Chinese characters with Middle Chinese retroflex stop (Zhi) and alveolar stop (Duan) initials from the fifteenth century through the twentieth century. The palatalization of Middle Chinese retroflex stop initials was noticeable in Sino-Korean as early as 1448 although it had become more apparent by 1720. This change seems to have been completed, at the latest, by 1751. Middle Chinese alveolar stop initials also underwent palatalization in Sino-Korean from 1751. The active change, however, took place from the late nineteenth century and was completed by the beginning of the twentieth century. Through a close observation of the mechanism of Sino-Korean palatalization, this study demonstrates that Sino-Korean palatalization was an internal change within Korean and diffused across the Sino-Korean lexicon in a gradual manner for centuries. Accordingly, this article concludes that Sino-Korean palatalization complies with the scenario of sound change that the Lexical Diffusionists propose.