This study discusses the social meaning of LHL% (rising-falling tone in IP final) in Seoul Korean, and shows the two kinds of LHL% contours that depend on the phonetic details of the contours. The data consist of popular “pseudo-reality” TV show called ‘we got married,’ where the female characters switch styles between a rational interview style and emotional, conversational style. What clearly characterizes the two styles is the phonetic pattern of LHL%—pitch and duration as the speakers use more phonetically extreme contours in a conversational style. The non-expressive LHL%, with the mild phonetic contour, functions as a “smoother,” while the expressive LHL%, with the extreme contour, has various emotional functions. Thus, this paper argues that while the “smoother” function can be the basis of social meanings of LHL%, the phonetic details, which make the variable more salient, are more important in shaping the social meaning and speaker stances.

Abstract
 1. Introduction
 2. LHL% and its meaning
  2.1. Definition and function of LHL%
  2.2. Expressiveness of LHL%
  2.3. LHL% as a sociolinguistic variable
 3. The Study
  3.1. Data: A “Reality” TV Show
  3.2. Methods
  3.3. Results and discussions
   3.3.1. Frequency pattern
   3.3.2. The phonetic pattern
 4. Conclusion
 References

• Kyuwon Moon(Stanford University)