From phonetics to phonology: The emergence of first words in Italian

TY - JOUR

T1 - From phonetics to phonology

T2 - The emergence of first words in Italian

AU - Keren-Portnoy, Tamar

AU - Majorano, Marinella

AU - Vihman, Marilyn M.

N1 - (c) 2008 Cambridge University Press. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy.

PY - 2009/3

Y1 - 2009/3

N2 - This study assesses the extent of phonetic continuity between babble and words in four Italian children followed longitudinally from 0; 9 or 0; 10 to 2;0-two with relatively rapid and two with slower lexical growth. Prelinguistic phonetic characteristics, including both (a) consistent use of specific consonants and (b) age of onset and extent of consonant variegation in babble, are found to predict rate of lexical advance and to relate to the form of the early words. In addition, each child's lexical profile is analyzed to test the hypothesis of non-linearity in phonological development. All of the children show the expected pattern of phonological advance: 'Relatively accurate first word production is followed by lexical expansion, characterized by a decrease in accuracy and an increase of similarity between word forms. We interpret such a profile as reflecting the emergence of word templates, a first step in phonological organization.

AB - This study assesses the extent of phonetic continuity between babble and words in four Italian children followed longitudinally from 0; 9 or 0; 10 to 2;0-two with relatively rapid and two with slower lexical growth. Prelinguistic phonetic characteristics, including both (a) consistent use of specific consonants and (b) age of onset and extent of consonant variegation in babble, are found to predict rate of lexical advance and to relate to the form of the early words. In addition, each child's lexical profile is analyzed to test the hypothesis of non-linearity in phonological development. All of the children show the expected pattern of phonological advance: 'Relatively accurate first word production is followed by lexical expansion, characterized by a decrease in accuracy and an increase of similarity between word forms. We interpret such a profile as reflecting the emergence of word templates, a first step in phonological organization.

KW - LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT

KW - LEXICAL DEVELOPMENT

KW - ACQUISITION

KW - TODDLERS

KW - SPEECH

KW - REORGANIZATION

KW - COMPLEXITY

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=65349180159&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/S0305000908008933

DO - 10.1017/S0305000908008933

M3 - Article

VL - 36

SP - 235

EP - 267

JO - Journal of Child Language

JF - Journal of Child Language

IS - 2

ER -