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Phonological harmony as a processing problem.

T Berg1

  • 1English Linguistics Department, University of Oldenburg, Germany.

Journal of Child Language
|June 1, 1992
PubMed
Summary
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This study suggests phonological harmony in children stems from processing, not representation, issues. Specific processing particularities explain why certain sounds are harmonized, but these are unlikely to persist.

Area of Science:

  • Child phonology
  • Speech acquisition
  • Linguistic development

Background:

  • Investigates consonant harmony, termed phonological harmony, in child speech.
  • Examines whether representational or processing deficits underlie phonological harmony.
  • Focuses on a German-speaking child's phonological development between 2;7 and 2;11.

Observation:

  • The child primarily exhibits bilabial harmony, a type of assimilation.
  • This harmony strategy is employed mainly for difficult sounds but also affects non-problematic consonants.
  • Difficult sounds appear present in the child's system, as evidenced by their production in certain contexts.

Findings:

  • The Imperfect Processing Model better explains the child's harmony strategy than the Incomplete Representation Model.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Phonological harmony is attributed to two processing system particularities: ill-developed connections between segment and feature levels, and excessive linkage strength among bilabial nodes.
  • These processing issues hinder smooth activation spread, impacting sound production and leading to hyperactivation of bilabial consonants.

    • Implications:

    • The findings suggest that temporary processing limitations, not permanent representational gaps, cause phonological harmony in early speech development.
    • Understanding these processing mechanisms provides insight into typical and atypical speech acquisition.
    • The study posits that these specific processing particularities are transient and unlikely to become permanent features.