LWPL 2.1 (2005)

Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Contributions by Fredrik Karlsson and Kirk P.H. Sullivan; Lambrini Kateri, Anthi Revithiadou, and Spyridoula Varlokosta; Haruko Miyakoda; Kuniya Nasukawa; Raquel Santos; Ellen Simon; Isao Ueda and Stuart Davis; Teresa Vanderweide; Yasemin Yildiz; Natalia Zharkova.

Editors
Contributions

Editors

This special issue of LWPL, Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition, was edited by Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt, and Jeroen van de Weijer.

Contributions

Fredrik Karlsson & Kirk P.H. Sullivan (Umeå University), /sP/ consonant clusters in Swedish: Acoustic measurements of phonological development. In: Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 1-12.

Abstract

This paper presents a cross-sectional and longitudinal investigation into the development of a contrast in voicing production in simple and complex consonant clusters for 21 children. The results showed that, although the group results indicated a progression that may have been caused either by development in articulatory proficiency or by an growing underlying representation, individual children develop in a manner that is not consistent with a developmental model postulating only articulatory development.

Lambrini Kateri, Anthi Revithiadou & Spyridoula Varlokosta (University of the Aegean), Continuity vs. Multiple Grammars: A case study from Greek SLI. In: Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 13-38.

Abstract

This paper examines variation in language development based on the case study of a Greek-speaking child with Specific Language Impairment in the phonological component. To account for variation, we extend the empirical coverage of partial ordering (Anttila 1997a,b) to language acquisition along the lines of Tzakosta's (2004) Multiple Parallel Grammars theory. The theoretical gain of the proposed model is that it provides a principled basis to define developmental paths and also draw a distinction between smart and non-smart paths. This is stated as the Grammar Inclusion Hypothesis: advanced grammars consist of total orders which are proper subsets of early grammars; a smart path is one that subsumes the total order of the target grammar.

Haruko Miyakoda (University of Tokyo TUAT), The prosodic structure in Japanese acquisition. In: Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 39-51.

Abstract

In Japanese phonology, bimoracity has played a crucial role in accounting for the many processes attested in this language. The acquisition data of Japanese-acquiring children show evidence for both the bimoraic minimality effects and the disyllabic maximality effects. Furthermore, during the three mora stage, children produce word shapes with the heavy-light syllable combination, or the light-light-light combination, but highly disfavor the light-heavy combination. We conclude that this is due to the emergence of the stem level in the prosodic hierarchy of Japanese.

Kuniya Nasukawa (Tohoku Gakuin University), Melodic complexity in infant language development. In: Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 53-70.

Abstract

This paper employs the notion of melodic complexity in analysing the mismatch between perception and production in the acquisition of laryngeal-source contrasts in Japanese infants. Adopting the view that child phonology is governed by the same computational characteristics as adult phonology, it claims that the disparity is attributed to the result of immature performance systems which cannot decode complex structures in phonological representations.

Raquel Santos (University of São Paulo), Strategies for the acquisition of word stress in Brazilian Portuguese. In: Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 71-91.

Abstract

This paper discusses the acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese word stress. Based on production data, I show that children use three different strategies to place prominences on their utterances while the adult word stress algorithm has not been acquired: various intonational contours, structuring of one contour, and stress templates. I argue that the data examined show that children start from higher levels and go down in the prosodic hierarchy when acquiring Brazilian Portuguese, favoring a top-down rather than a bottom-up view of prosodic development.

Ellen Simon (University of Gent), The acquisition of the English voice contrast by native speakers of vernacular Belgian Dutch. A comparison between East- and West-Flemish speakers. In: Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 93-115.

Abstract

This paper discusses the laryngeal phonology of Dutch Learner English. Because the laryngeal specifications of obstruents are different in Dutch and English, native speakers of Dutch learning English as a foreign language have to acquire a new laryngeal system. By analysing the presence or absence of aspirations and voice assimilations in spontaneous Dutch and English conversations between native speakers of Dutch, the paper aims to shed light on the laryngeal specifications of obstruents in Dutch Learner English and the implications for L1 Dutch and English.

Isao Ueda & Stuart Davis (Osaka University of Foreign Studies & Indiana University), Developmental paths in the acquisition of the Japanese liquid: An Optimality-Theoretic perspective. In: Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 117-135.

Abstract

This study addresses itself to a unified account of the acquisition of the Japanese liquid. It is recognized that there are two possible paths children take to reach the fully developed system with respect to the acquisition of the liquid. We first provide detailed data for these two paths. These data are analyzed under Optimality Theory. We discuss that the acquisition of the liquid is explicated by positing a series of rerankings of three phonological constraints, and that the two different paths are nothing other than two different reranking processes. Finally, we suggest that our analysis sheds light upon other aspects related to the distribution of the liquid.

Teresa Vanderweide (Mount Royal College and University of Calgary), The acquisition of manner in prevocalic sequences in L1: A cue is a cue. In Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 137-161.

Abstract

This paper examines the acquisition of manner in pre-vocalic sequences using a Licensing-by-Cue (Steriade 1999, Gerfen 2001, Kirchner & Varelas 2002) approach to consonantal phonotactics. I argue that the robustness of acoustic cues, as defined using articulatory overlap and resistance to environmental masking, provides an explanation for (1), the possible paths available to learners, and (2), for the specific paths that learners follow when acquiring CV and CCV sequences. Using Fikkert’s (1994) Dutch acquisition data, I demonstrate that a cue-based learning theory can explain why children first acquire CV sequences that maximally contrast in continuancy. I also show that cue-based learning can account for the order in which children acquire plosive initial and fricative initial clusters.

Yasemin Yildiz (University of Essex), The structure of initial /s/-clusters: Evidence from L1 and L2 language acquisition. In: Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 163-187.

Abstract

The acquisition of /s/-clusters stands to be highly variable in production and they pattern differently from other non-/s/ clusters. In order to account for the special status of /s/-clusters there has been an overwhelming appeal to look at other phonological domains, such as the structural representation. Currently, there stands to be a vast amount of literature on the acquisition of /s/-clusters both in First Language (L1) acquisition and Second Language (L2) acquisition. Therefore, the goal of this paper to unify the main findings from L1 and L2 acquisition. This in return will lead to a discussion on the structural representation of /s/-clusters, in where we argue that /s/-clusters are stored as a complex segment. The evidence for this is drawn primarily from English L1 acquisition data, while the data for L2 acquisition is drawn primarily from Turkish learners of English, which will be new in itself. The implications regarding structural representations, learning and variation will be addressed, and the analysis for this is worked out within an Optimality Theoretic approach.

Natalia Zharkova (Queen Margaret University College), Strategies in the acquisition of segments and syllables in Russian-speaking children. In Marina Tzakosta, Claartje Levelt & Jeroen van de Weijer (eds.), Developmental Paths in Phonological Acquisition. Leiden Papers in Linguistics 2.1 (2005), 189-213.

Abstract

This study investigates the phonological development of ten children reared in Russian-speaking homes, from the emergence of first words to the age of three years two months. The paper consists of three parts: acquisition of phonemes and phonological oppositions; acoustic analysis of the consonantal opposition in palatalization emerging in children; acquisition of syllable structure of words and different syllable omission patterns. The focus is made on individual strategies adopted by different children. Some data challenge the literature claim about the acquisition of labials before other consonants and the claim about 'trochaic bias' in early word production.

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Last Modified: 03-07-2008