A Survey of Phonetically Balanced Words Lists Used in Training Hospitals in Korea

Abstract

Background and Objectives：Although several Korean PB (phonetically balanced word lists were proposed by many investigators, there is not yet a standard PB word list established in Korea. This study aims to study the actual condition of Korean PB word lists, to investigate the frequencies of Korean phonemes and to delineate the commonly used monosyllabic words among them. Materials and Method：The study materials were collected from 80 training hospitals in Korea. The frequencies of the initial consonants, vowels and final consonants in the collected lists were calculated with a computer program. Common monosyllabic words were summarized in a table according to their incidences in the lists. Results：Thirteen lists were used in 80 training hospitals. Hahm's list was most commonly used. Most lists showed a similar trend in the phoneme frequencies. The most common monosyllabic words were /gang/, /nun/, and /don/. Conclusion：These results might be valuable information for the production of a new standard Korean PB word list. (Korean J Otolaryngol 2005;48:1086-90)