The effect of phonotactic constraints in German-speaking children with delayed phonological acquisition : evidence from production of word-initial consonant clusters

  • In this study the effect of phonotactic constraints concerning word-initial consonant clusters in children with delayed phonological acquisition was explored. Twelve German-speaking children took part (mean age 5;1). The spontaneous speech of all children was characterized by the regular appearance of the error patterns fronting, e.g., Kuh (cow) → /tu:/, or stopping, e.g., Schaf (sheep) → /ta:f/, which were inappropriate for their chronological age. The children were asked to produce words (picture naming task, word repetition task) with initial consonant clusters, in which the application of the error patterns would violate phonotactic sequence constraints. For instance, if fronting would apply in /kl-/, e.g., Kleid (dress), it would be realized as the phontactically illegal consonant cluster /tl-/. The results indicate that phonotactic constraints affect word production in children with delayed phonological developments. Surprisingly, we found that children with fronting produced the critical consonants correctly significantly moreIn this study the effect of phonotactic constraints concerning word-initial consonant clusters in children with delayed phonological acquisition was explored. Twelve German-speaking children took part (mean age 5;1). The spontaneous speech of all children was characterized by the regular appearance of the error patterns fronting, e.g., Kuh (cow) → /tu:/, or stopping, e.g., Schaf (sheep) → /ta:f/, which were inappropriate for their chronological age. The children were asked to produce words (picture naming task, word repetition task) with initial consonant clusters, in which the application of the error patterns would violate phonotactic sequence constraints. For instance, if fronting would apply in /kl-/, e.g., Kleid (dress), it would be realized as the phontactically illegal consonant cluster /tl-/. The results indicate that phonotactic constraints affect word production in children with delayed phonological developments. Surprisingly, we found that children with fronting produced the critical consonants correctly significantly more often in word-initial consonant clusters than in words in which they appeared as singleton onsets. In addition, the results provide evidence for a similar developmental trajectory of acquisition in children with typical development and in children with delayed phonological acquisition. Keywords: Children with delayed phonological acquisition, phonotactic constraints, word-initial consonant clusters, fronting, stopping.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author details:Susan OttGND, Ruben van de VijverORCiDGND, Barbara HöhleORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-16316
Publication series (Volume number):Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe (paper 027)
Publication type:Postprint
Language:English
Publication year:2006
Publishing institution:Universität Potsdam
Release date:2008/01/25
Source:International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - London : Informa Healthcare, 8 (2006), 4, p. 323 - 334. - ISSN 1754-9515
Organizational units:Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Linguistik
DDC classification:4 Sprache / 40 Sprache / 400 Sprache
Institution name at the time of the publication:Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Linguistik / Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft
License (English):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung - Nicht-kommerziell - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 3.0 Unported
External remark:
This is an electronic version of an article published in International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. - London : Informa Healthcare, 8 (2006), 4, p. 323 - 334
ISSN 1754-9515
International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology is available online at informaworldTM .
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