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The articulatory basis of babbling
1Department of Speech Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Texas at Austin 78712-1089, USA. babs@mail.utexas.edu
Journal of Speech and Hearing Research
|December 1, 1995
Summary
Speech acquisition involves rhythmic mandibular "Frames" controlling babbling patterns, with less focus on "Content." This "Frame Dominance" explains early speech development in infants.
Area of Science:
- Developmental linguistics
- Speech acquisition
- Infant phonetics
Background:
- The
- Frames, then Content
- hypothesis proposes babbling patterns stem from syllabic "Frames" via mandibular oscillation, with minimal mandible-independent "Content" influence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the
- Frames, then Content
- hypothesis in infant speech acquisition.
- To analyze the articulatory basis of babbling patterns.
Main Methods:
- Phonetic transcription of 6,659 infant utterances.
- Analysis of weekly audio recordings from 6 infants (4-6 month period).
Main Results:
- Confirmed 30 predictions regarding consonant-vowel co-occurrence and intersyllabic variations.
- Demonstrated preferential co-occurrence of vowels with specific consonant places.
- Observed greater vowel tongue height variation than front-back movement; consonant manner changes predominated over place changes.
Conclusions:
- The
- Frames, then Content
- hypothesis is supported.
- Babbling exhibits
- Frame Dominance
- , where rhythmic mandibular control shapes speech patterns.