TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of phonotactic constraints in German-speaking children with delayed phonological acquisition
T2 - Evidence from production of word-initial consonant clusters
AU - Ott, Susan
AU - van de Vijver, Ruben
AU - Höhle, Barbara
PY - 2006/12
Y1 - 2006/12
N2 - In this study the effect of phonotactic constraints concerning word-initial consonant clusters in children with delayed phonological acquisition was explored. Twelve German-speaking children took part (mean age 5;1). The spontaneous speech of all children was characterized by the regular appearance of the error patterns fronting, e.g., Kuh "cow" /ku:/ → [tu:], or stopping, e.g., Schaf "sheep" /∫a:f/ → [ta:f], which were inappropriate for their chronological age. The children were asked to produce words (picture naming task, word repetition task) with initial consonant clusters, in which the application of the error patterns would violate phonotactic sequence constraints. For instance, if fronting would apply in /kl-/, e.g., Kleid "dress", it would be realized as the phontactically illegal consonant cluster /tl-/. The results indicate that phonotactic constraints affect word production in children with delayed phonological developments. Surprisingly, we found that children with fronting produced the critical consonants correctly significantly more often in word-initial consonant clusters than in words in which they appeared as singleton onsets. In addition, the results provide evidence for a similar developmental trajectory of acquisition in children with typical development and in children with delayed phonological acquisition.
AB - In this study the effect of phonotactic constraints concerning word-initial consonant clusters in children with delayed phonological acquisition was explored. Twelve German-speaking children took part (mean age 5;1). The spontaneous speech of all children was characterized by the regular appearance of the error patterns fronting, e.g., Kuh "cow" /ku:/ → [tu:], or stopping, e.g., Schaf "sheep" /∫a:f/ → [ta:f], which were inappropriate for their chronological age. The children were asked to produce words (picture naming task, word repetition task) with initial consonant clusters, in which the application of the error patterns would violate phonotactic sequence constraints. For instance, if fronting would apply in /kl-/, e.g., Kleid "dress", it would be realized as the phontactically illegal consonant cluster /tl-/. The results indicate that phonotactic constraints affect word production in children with delayed phonological developments. Surprisingly, we found that children with fronting produced the critical consonants correctly significantly more often in word-initial consonant clusters than in words in which they appeared as singleton onsets. In addition, the results provide evidence for a similar developmental trajectory of acquisition in children with typical development and in children with delayed phonological acquisition.
KW - Children with delayed phonological acquisition
KW - Fronting
KW - Phonotactic constraints
KW - Stopping
KW - Word-initial consonant clusters
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33751380059&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14417040600970622
DO - 10.1080/14417040600970622
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33751380059
SN - 1441-7049
VL - 8
SP - 323
EP - 334
JO - Advances in Speech-Language Pathology
JF - Advances in Speech-Language Pathology
IS - 4
ER -