Orthographic Influence and Vowel Adaptation in English Loanwords in Korean

The increasing influence of English as a global language has significantly affected the lexical systems of many languages, including Korean. As English lexical items enter Korean, they undergo various phonological and orthographic modifications in order to conform to the structural constraints of the recipient language. This article examines the role of orthographic interpretation and vowel adaptation in the phonological integration of English loanwords in Korean. Particular attention is paid to the phenomenon of orthography-based pronunciation, in which the written form of English words influences their phonological realization in Korean. The study analyzes how English vowels, diphthongs, and consonant clusters are adapted through Hangul, the Korean writing system. The findings demonstrate that English vowel contrasts are frequently simplified due to differences between the phonemic inventories of the two languages. Furthermore, English spelling conventions often play a decisive role in determining the final phonological form of loanwords in Korean. The results highlight the complex interaction between phonology, orthography, and language contact in the adaptation of foreign lexical items.

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