Child Language Development : Acquisition of Phonology

1. Child Language Development: Acquisition of Phonology

2. Phonological rules(processes) • Phonological rules or processes are systematic procedures for making adult words pronounceable. The patterns and systematically enable children to produce an approximation of an adult model. • Are you ready? Let’s find the rules together!

3. First: Preference for CVCV 1,final consonant omission(early process) Adult target Child’s version • Noise noiznoi • Back bakba • Cat kat ka • Bib bib bi 2,consonant cluster reduction(sk, pl, str, etc) Adult target child’s version • Spill spilpil/fil • School skulkul • Bread bred bed 3, addition/ substitution of vowel sounds Adult target Children’s version • Egg egegэ • Pig pigpigэ • Blue blubэlu

4. Conclusion • Adult target Child’s version • CCV(glu) CV(gu) CVC(pig) CVCV(pigэ) • CVC(bib) CV(bi) • Rule: preference for simple CVCV sound structure is found in a variety of languages, not just English.

5. Second: Stopping process • How to distinguish a consonant? Rule: children tend to replace fricatives with stop consonants which have the same place of articulation and the same voicing. Place of articulation Labial Alveolar Velar voiced voiceless voiced voiceless voiced voiceless Manner of articulation • Stops b p d t g k • Fricatives v f z s • Nasals m n

6. Observe the following phenomena carefully and tell the difference between adult target and child version? • Adult target Child’s version Language • Sundar tunder Hindi • Hus hut Norweigian • Zebra debra English • Fazik pazik Hungarian • Sopa topa Spanish • Key:the fricative consonants in the adult targets have been replaced by stop consonants.

7. adult target children’s version • Zip zipdip • Sip siptip • Miss mismit • Explanation: due to ease of production, fricatives require a much finer control of the tongue and lips than stops do.

8. Third: voicing/devoicing of consonant sounds • adult target children’s version Bed bedbet kick kikgik bag bagbak pip pipbip Rule: voicing all consonants at the beginning of words, while de-voicing all consonants at the end of words.

9. Fourth: assimilation process adult target children’s version Dog doggog Tub tubbub Sam samnam Rule: Children frequently modify consonants to make them more like other consonants in the same word, usually initial consonants assimilating to later ones. Sometimes, children can carry the assimilation process even further in two-syllable words by assimilating whole syllables. Water wawa Bottle baba This process is so common in early childhood that this reduplication of syllables has become standard in “baby-talk”.

10. Fifth: Supra segmental-segmental interactions • In the early period of development, word pronunciations are often affected by length of the word and its stress patterns. • adult target child’s version • Behind be’hind hind • Supposed su’pozdpozd • Tomato to’matomato • Without wi’thout out • Rule: In words of more than one syllable, children often omit one or more of the unstressed syllables. • Explanation: since weakly stressed syllables are harder to perceive , the errors may be due to perception rather than production.