Early lexical and phonological acquisition and its relationships

Area of Science:

• Developmental Linguistics
• Child Phonology
• Early Lexical Acquisition

Background:

• Early childhood language development involves intricate connections between vocabulary (lexical) and sound systems (phonological).
• Understanding these relationships is crucial for identifying typical developmental trajectories in toddlers.
• Previous research has explored these domains separately, necessitating studies that integrate both aspects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between lexical development and phonological acquisition in children aged 1 year to 1 year, 11 months and 29 days.
• To analyze how vocabulary growth correlates with sound system development in early childhood.
• To examine these relationships within a specific cohort of children attending public kindergartens.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 18 children with typical language development was divided into three age subgroups.
• Spontaneous speech was video-recorded for subsequent lexical and phonological analysis.
• Phonological assessment included counting acquired and partially acquired sounds, considering 19 sounds and two allophones of Brazilian Portuguese.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed in acquired sounds and lexical item means across age subgroups.
• The first age subgroup showed distinct differences compared to the second and third subgroups for both sound and lexical development.
• A correlation between lexical items and acquired/partially acquired sounds was noted in the oldest subgroup (1 year, 8 months to 1 year, 11 months and 29 days).

Conclusions:

• Phonological and lexical development are interconnected and progress dynamically.
• These developmental domains mutually influence each other throughout early childhood.
• Phonological development appears to have a slight precedence in this developmental interplay.