A syllable-based approach to whole-word phonology

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Children's phonological development is crucial for language acquisition.
• Existing measures like Phonological Mean Length of Utterance (PMLU) provide insights into whole-word phonology.
• There is a need for refined measures that incorporate prosodic elements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate the Correct Syllables and Consonants (CSC) measure for assessing whole-word phonology.
• To refine the Phonological Mean Length of Utterance (PMLU) by incorporating a syllable component and simplifying consonant scoring.
• To establish the cross-linguistic validity of the CSC measure.

Main Methods:

• Developed the Correct Syllables and Consonants (CSC) measure, refining the Phonological Mean Length of Utterance (PMLU).
• Incorporated a syllable component and simplified consonant scoring into the CSC measure.
• Analyzed language samples from typically developing children and those with phonological impairment, and validated against PMLU in multilingual samples.

Main Results:

• The CSC measure effectively assesses whole-word phonology, capturing prosodic components.
• Demonstrated the CSC procedure with case examples of typical and impaired phonological development.
• Showed a high correlation between CSC and PMLU in two-year-old children across six languages, confirming cross-linguistic validity.

Conclusions:

• The Correct Syllables and Consonants (CSC) measure is a valid and reliable tool for assessing children's whole-word phonology.
• The CSC measure's syllable component enhances analysis and links phonological development to grammar.
• The CSC measure demonstrates cross-linguistic applicability in speech development research.