This study investigates the mechanism of the segmental OCP phenomena in Altaic languages. There is a tendency in the Manchu and Korean lexicons that a coda consonant is likely to differ from the onset in the same syllable.
Assuming that these patterns result from accumulative historical changes biased against syllables containing identical consonants, I examine what happens when different types of syllables are memorized. A memory experiment reveals that the syllables with identical consonants show low accuracy, specifically when the acoustic cues of coda consonants are not salient. Based on the results, I argue that the OCP patterns in the lexicon is attributed to the interaction of perception and memory, which are biased against syllables containing identical consonants.