PHONOLOGICAL

DEVELOPMENT
ALL 422 GROUP 1 PRESENTATIONS
 GROUP MEMBERS

 BOSCO CHANDIDA BAH-50-18

 CHIFUNDO SIMLEMBA EL-56-16
 FATSANI MTOMBOSOLA BAH-85-18
 MARY PEZENGU EL-64-17
 OMEGA MALEMBETSA EL-13-17
 INTRODUCTION

 Phonologicaldevelopment refers to forming and using speech sounds to

clearly communicate language.
 According to (Lust, 2006) discovering phonology and its system of
combinations is a necessary and primary step in “cracking the code” of the
language surrounding the child.
 Thispresentation will explore some the main issues involved in the
phonological development in children.
 WHAT MUST CHILDREN ACQUIRE IN
PHONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

 According to Lust (2006) children acquire the following in phonological development:

1. Discover units required to map from the continuous stimulus to a digital knowledge of language.
2. Distinguish speech sounds both in production and perception. e.g. distinguish Big and Pig
3. Discover sounds that are linguistically significant in their language and those that are not.
4. Discover the phonological and phonotactic rules.
5. Combine sound segments into larger phonological units, that is “suprasegmental units,” sequencing them.
6. Discover what sound combinations are not possible in their language.
7. Discover which speech cues are critical in the language
 SPEECH PERCEPTION

 Speech perception refers to the means by which acoustic and sometimes

visual or even haptic speech signals are mapped into the language forms that
language users know.
 There are about 600 consonants and 200 vowels. Each individual language
has about 40 elements; phonemes which distinguish between words
(Slabakova, 2016)
 Phonemes has number of similar but non-identical sounds which are
functional equivalent in the language.
 So how do infants figure which phonemes are in their language.
 Speech perception begins prenatally; that is, prior to birth (Clark, 2001).
 In the prenatal stage, infants can distinguish language from mere sounds like noise.
Actually, infants are familiar with their mother’s voice.
 The major step of phonological development is the discrimination of speech sounds
(Clark, 2001; Lust, 2006)
 SOUND DICRIMINATION

 Psycholinguists made a major discovery of the fundamental speech perception,

that is categorical perception (CP) (Lust,2006)
 CP correspondsto the extent to which acoustic differences between variants of
the same phoneme are less perceptible than differences of the same acoustic
magnitude between two different phonemes.
 With CP, we do not perceive speech streams as continuous, we categorize them.
 The ability to categorize sounds helps us to discriminate them.
 Young infants discriminate nearly every phonetic contrast on which they have
been tested, including nonnative ones
 Sound discrimination is based on distinctive features like manner and place of
articulation, and voicing (Karmiloff & Karmiloff, 2002).
 Infants are able to discriminate sounds from birth (i.e. 0 months)
 Around 2 months infants can discriminate canonical and non-canonical
syllables (Lust, 2006)
 Canonical syllables have a regular pattern adhered to in a language unlike non-
canonical syllables (Lust, 2006).
 For example, “pæt” or “tæp” are canonical English syllables while “pst” and “tsp”
are non- canonical English syllables (lust, 2006)
 Infants can also discriminate sounds that are not native in their learning
environment (Clark, 2001; Lust, 2006).
 However, around 8 and 12 months infants cannot discriminate nonnative sounds.
 Consequently, adults cannot discriminate cross linguistic sounds
 According to (Clark, 2001)n one study, Werker and Tees (1984) tested English
infants on their ability to discriminate 3 contrasts:
 (a) the English place-of-articulation contrast between /ba/ and /ga/
 (b) the Hindi retroflex versus dental stop contrast (/ta/ and /ta/)
 (c)Nthlakampx (an Amerindian language) glottalized velar versus uvular stop
contrast (/k’i/ and /q’i/).
 The youngest infants exposed to English (6-8 months) could discriminate all three,
but by eight to ten months, only some infants could discriminate the non-English
contrasts.
 By 10-12 months, English infants appeared to be sensitive only to the
distinction in the English /ba/ ~ /ga/ contrast.
 Infants exposed to Hindi and Nthlakampx respectively, at eleven months, could
discriminate the relevant contrasts for their language.
 a reorganization in perceptual biases rather than from any loss of initial auditory
capacity.
 According to (Lust, 2006) the change Is due to exposure to the native language
which alters speech perception as supported by the native language magnet
hypothesis (NLMH).
 The NLMH suggests that linguistic experience in the first half-year of life alters
phonetic perception and pursues the mechanisms which underlie this.
 According (Lust, 2006) to Infants demonstrates a “magnet effect” for a “prototype”
of vowels in their native language.
 SEGMENTING THE SPEECH STREAM

 Unlike in written text, speech stream does not have boundaries.

 So the question is “How do babies know where a word finish and starts?”
 The solution lies in learning some pre-lexical characteristics of speech stream that
helps infants to segment words (Clark, 2001; Lust, 2006).
A) Prosody/ Suprasegmental features
Babies pay attention to prosodic features of speech signal and this helps them to
identify word boundaries though not perfect.
 Some of the prosodic features are stress and tone
1. Stress
 Stress patterns within words help to segment speech streams in stress languages
(Karmiloff & Karmiloff, 2002).
 For example, in English, there is a predominant strong-weak stress pattern
(TAble,CARpet,TRACtor) than a weak-strong pattern (ciGAR,giRAFFE).
 According to Slabakova (2016), 90% of English words are disyllabic (has 2
syllables); and these words follow the strong-weak pattern stress.
 Infants around 6-8 months can perceive most strong-weak pattern, the weak-strong
patterns develop later around 10-11 months (Lust, 2006).
2. Phonotactics
 Phonotactics comprises possible combinations of sounds for every syllable position in
every language (Karmiloff & Karmiloff, 2002).
 Each language has unique sound combination for every syllable position (onset, nucleus,
and coda) may combine.
 Some sounds combination are restricted.
 For instance, while the combination /nd/ can be syllable initial in some Bantu languages
like Chichewa (/ndani/,/nduna), this is not the case with English.
 Phonotactic knowledge also helps children to determine word boundaries
(Karmiloff & Karmiloff, 2002).
 For example, sound /tb/ cannot start a word in English. Therefore if an infant
hears the sounds in that particular sequence the infant will realize that there is a
boundary (e.g “sit back”).
 Usually, phonotactic knowledge starts to develop between 8 and 9 months (Lust,
2006).
SPEECH PRODUCTION

 Speech production is the process of uttering sounds

 When children start to talk early in their second year, it is difficult
to identify their first words
 Young children are also inconsistence in how they produce the
same word on different occasions
 According to Ingram (1974) and Maekawa and Storkel (2006)
argued that children pronunciation vary more than adults do from
one occasion to the next and
SPEECH PRODUCTION CONTI…

 In their first few months of talking, they produce multiple version

of the same word
 For examples: one child, Philip used as many as five different
versions of blanket within a month.
 At age of 1;9 he had multiple versions of the 50 of the 125 words in
his repertoire
 Another child, Fernande (learning French) at one stage
SPEECH PRODUCTION CONTI…

 Used five different pronunciations for chaise “chair”

 At age 1;5 she too had multiple version for nearly half her words 47 out
of 114 (Clark, 2009)
 Clark (2009) said that until children master the full range of articulatory
programs necessary for the variety of legal word shapes in their language,
children often fall short of adult pronunciations in their own production
 Upon refection, we can trace the process that led to simplified child’s
early pronunciation
SPEECH PRODUCTION CONTI….

1. OMISSIONS/ DELETION
(a). Consonant cluster reduction
 children simplify consonant cluster, usually retaining only stop if
there is one.
 For example in cluster SKW- they drop both the glide W and the
initial S- keeping only velar stop K
 children generally produce just the stop as in [top] for stop, [mo]
for small and [dek] for desk (Clark, 2009)
(b). Final consonant deletion
 children often delete the final consonant
 for examples: [ba] for ball and ‘it’ I-h (Lust, 2006)
(c) unstressed syllable deletion
 children also delete final syllable it is unstressed in their early syllables
 for example banana becomes ‘naene (Lust, 2006)
2. ASSIMILASTION
 Assimilation refers to the effect of sounds on those preceding or following
 them within or across word-boundaries (Katamba, 1989and Clark,
2009)
(a). Regressive assimilation
 Katamba (1989) defined regressive assimilation as a sound that
becomes more like the sound that precedes it
 for examples: doggy becomes goggy and nipple becomes mibu
(Lust, 2006)
(b). Progressive assimilation
 progressive assimilation is the process whereby a sound is
modified so that it becomes more like sound that follows it
(Katamba, 1989)
 for examples: kiss becomes gik and cloth becomes g>k (Lust,
2006)
(c). Reduplication
(1). Total reduplication
 In total reduplication children simply repeat the syllable they are
articulating (clark,2009)
 For examples [baba] for bottle, [kiki] for kitchen and [dada] for
daddy (Ingram, 1974)
(2). Partial reduplication
 Children may use partial reduplication by keeping the
 The vowel the same across syllable (vowel harmony)
 For example [lidi] for little
 They may also use partial reduplication by keeping the consonant
the same (consonant harmony)
 For example [babi] for blanket (Clark, 2009)
3. SUBSTITUTIONS
(a). Gliding substitution
 Children produce the glides w and y typically in place of the liquids
l and r
 For examples: [bwok] for broke and [wabbit] for rabbit (Lust,
2006; Clark, 2009)
(b). Fronting substitution
 In fronting, child produces a consonant further forward
 in the mouth than intended target (clark… )
 Substitution of [w] or [y] for back such as velars [k] [g]
 For examples: [ti] for key, [fit] for thick and [ditty] for kitty (Lust
2006; Clark, 2001)
(c). Stopping
 This where children use a stop in place of a fricative (Ferguson,
1978; Olmsted 1971)
 This is substitution of stop consonant for fricatives and affricate
 For examples: [tæwi∫] for sandwich (with initial –d for –s), [nayb]
for knife (with final –b for –f) and [tuid] for shoes (Clark, 2009 and
Lust, 2006)
(d). Voicing
 Children tend to voice consonant sounds in initial but
find it difficult to voice them in final position
 As a result, they often voice voiceless initial consonants
 For examples: [bay] for pie and [bat] for pocket (Lust, 2006 and
Clark, 2009)
(e). Devoicing
 Children tend to devoice final consonants
 For examples: [nop] for knob (Velten, 1943 and Lust, 2006)
STAGES OF PRE –SPEECH VOCAL DEVELOPMENT

 Although vocalizations during the first words have sometimes

been dismissed as wild sounds unlinked to the onset of words and
language, we know that these behaviour are steps in language
acquisition
1. Reflexive and vegetative vocalization/phonation stage
 according to Lust (2006) reflexive and vegetative vocalisation
appear within the first six weeks
 For these vegetative sounds infants vocal cords vibrate
 An air passes through their vocal apparatus
 Example of the reflexive vocalisation is crying and
 example of the vegetative sounds is sneezing
2. Cooing
 Cooing appear around six weeks
 In cooing, increased control over voicing and the vocal
tract reflects an integration of previous vocalization types ( a vocalic
mechanism in crying and a consonantal mechanism in vegetative
sounds) in a first structure allowing a consonant-vowel like
configuration of the “coo” (Stark, 1978 and Lust, 2006)
3. Babbling
 Babbling happens at six to seven months though some don’t start
until as late as ten months or so
(a). Marginal babbling
 The earliest babbling stage called marginal babbling. It tends to
consist of single syllable repeated for example babababa or gagaga
(Clark, 2009)
 According to Clark (2009) in this stage syllable consists of a
consonant-like sound ( b or g) combined with a vowel-like sound
produced with some open vocal tract
.(b)canonical babbling
 The second stage is called canonical babbling.
 Canonical babbling consists of short or long sequences containing
just one consonant-vowel (CV) combination that is reduplicated or
repeated
 As these babble sequences become longer and more frequent,
infants may display a preference for
One consonant-type over others with some favouring m- sounds,
others b- sounds and others still g- sounds
 They soon start vary the intonation patterns in the language around
them
 They also start to vary the syllable within a babble sequence for
example bababa-mamama, mememe-dede, baba-dadada (Clark,
2009)
(c).VARIEGATED BABBLING
 The last stage is variegated babbling which happens from ten to
fourteen months
 Infants now combine different vowels and consonants into syllable
strings
 At this stage many babble sequences sound compatible with the
surrounding language using similar sound sequences, rhythm and
intonation
DEVELOPMENT ONCE SETS IN 1 YEAR AND OLDER

 At the age of 1 children only just begin to speak and their

utterances are not adult-like yet at all
 Children's perpetual abilities are still developing too
 In fact both production and perception abilities continue to develop
well into the schools years
4.1 – 1.5 YEARS

primarily unintelligible but start gaining some words

 Frequently omits begging and ending phonemes
 Can use more vowels but few consonants
 For examples
5. 1.5 – 2 years
 True vocabulary begins to replace babbling
 Can ask questions by raising intonation at the end of sentences
 Approximately 65% intelligible in the language
 For examples
6.2 -3 years

Increasingly intelligible
Omits occasional final phonemes
Masters more difficult consonants e.g /p/ /m/ /w/
For examples
7. 3 -4 years
 Continues to improve vocabulary
 Commits less phonological errors
 Masters most difficult single consonants e.g /k/ /g/ /f
 For examples
8. 4 -5 years
Fully intelligible
 Only difficult words cause phonological errors
9. 5 -7 years
 Fully intelligible e.g –ing, th-
 THE RELATION OF BABBLING TO FIRST WORDS

 The questions are: what relation is there between infants babbling and
their recognisable word?
 Is there continuity of vocalizing from six months up to and past the
age when children first word talking?
 Or is there a break between babbling and talking?
 The first group argued that there is continuity because both babbling
and speech involve vocalization
 They assume that babbling is a direct precursor to speech
 They have argued that babbling continues until well after the appearance of
children's first words and a number of analyse have shown that there are strong
similarities between the phonetic sequences in bubbles and early words
 Although they argued for continuity but absence of a full match in infants babble
versus speech repertoires presents problem
 Some sounds that appear in babbling e.g. l sounds may not emerge in their words
until two or three years later
 These observations about babbling have led other researchers to assume discontinuity
instead and to against any connection between babbling and early words
 Jokobson (1968) argued strongly for this view on the following grounds:
 Infants typically make use of different repertoires of sounds in the two activities
(babbling and speaking)
 They sometimes stop bubbling for a short period ( typically while starting to walk)
before they produce their first words
 The system of sounds infants use in their first words require attention to phonological
contrasts unlike the sounds used in babbling
 REFERENCES

 Clark, E.V. 2009. First Language Acquisition. 2nd ed. Cambridege: CUP.
 Ingram, David. 1974. Phonological rules in young children. Journal of Child Language 1,49–64.
 Karmiloff, K and Karmiloff-Smith, A. 2001. Pathways to Language: From fetus to Adolescent. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press.
 Lust, B.C. 2006. Child Language Acquisition and Growth. Cambridge: CUP
 Slabakova, R. 2016. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Maekawa, Junko, & Storkel, Holly L. 2006. Individual differences in the influence of phonological
characteristics on expressive vocabulary development by young children. Journal of Child Language 33,
439–459
 Katamba Francis 1989. Introduction to phonology. Longman: New York