Related Experiment Videos
Between-word junctures in early multi-word speech.
1Department of Human Communication Science, University College London, Chandler House, 2 Wakefield Street, London, WC1N 1PF, UK.
Journal of Child Language
|July 12, 2002
Summary
Children develop connected speech phenomena like assimilation, elision, and liaison from two-word utterances. Phonetic development for these junctures is mostly complete by age 3;4, with exceptions for /r/ liaison.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Developmental Psychology
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- Children typically begin multi-word utterances around 1;6 to 2;0 years.
- Connected speech phenomena are crucial for phonological development.
- Understanding child phonology requires examining connected speech features.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the development of assimilation, elision, and liaison in a child's connected speech.
- To analyze the phonetic and phonological processes in between-word junctures.
- To determine the age of acquisition for specific juncture types.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal case study design was employed.
- The study focused on a typically developing child aged 2;4 to 3;4.
- Three juncture types (assimilation, elision, liaison) were analyzed in spontaneous speech.
Main Results:
- Attempts at producing adult juncture types began with two-word utterances.
- Phonetic development of intergestural coordination for junctures was largely achieved by 3;4.
- Liaison involving /r/ was a late-developing feature, emerging around age 3;0.
Conclusions:
- Between-word junctures are primarily a result of phonetic development rather than learned phonological rules.
- The study highlights the gradual acquisition of complex phonetic coordination in connected speech.
- /r/ liaison represents a specific phonological process in child language acquisition.