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Production constraints on utterance-final consonant characteristics in babbling
M A Redford1, P F MacNeilage, B L Davis
1Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin 78712, USA.
Phonetica
|January 1, 1997
Summary
Infants babbling shows patterns in final consonants, often repeating the preceding consonant's place of articulation. This suggests vocal production constraints influence early speech development.
Area of Science:
- Speech production
- Developmental linguistics
- Phonetics
Background:
- Babbling is a crucial stage in infant language acquisition.
- Understanding production constraints in babbling informs theories of speech development.
- Previous research identified patterns in infant vocalizations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate hypotheses about production constraints on final consonants in infant babbling.
- To analyze patterns in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) syllables produced by infants.
Main Methods:
- Examined 721 utterance-final consonants from 6 infants.
- Analyzed consonants within CVC syllables.
- Compared final consonants with preceding consonants, focusing on place, manner, and voicing.
Main Results:
- Observed significant patterns in place, manner, and voicing of final consonants.
- Found a strong tendency for final consonants to repeat the place of articulation of nonfinal consonants.
- Noticed a higher frequency of fricative, nasal, and voiceless consonants in final positions.
Conclusions:
- 'Frame dominance,' where the jaw cycle structures utterances, likely explains repeated place of articulation.
- Terminal energy decrease in the vocal system may account for manner and voicing patterns.
- These findings highlight articulatory and physiological constraints shaping early babbling production.