English mixing in K-pop across genres

초록

This paper examined 700+ Korean pop songs to probe the frequency and pattern of English mixing across six main genres: trot, rock, ballad, dance, R&B, and hip-hop. Since genres have fairly predictable sets of regularly occurring and conventional forms, English use in each genre is expected to differ. Frequency of mixing was measured using the proportion of songs that contained English in each genre, while mixing pattern was investigated using a mixing scale that contained seven levels. Then, I suggest factors that trigger English mixing: time of introduction, theme of lyrics, and key of melody. Combining these factors accounts for the general tendency of English use in different genres.

키워드