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The acquisition of two phonetic cues to word boundaries*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2007

MELISSA A. REDFORD  and
CHRISTINA E. GILDERSLEEVE-NEUMANN
MELISSA A. REDFORD*
Affiliation:
The University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
CHRISTINA E. GILDERSLEEVE-NEUMANN
Affiliation:
Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Melissa A. Redford, Department of Linguistics, 1290 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403. Email: redford@uoregon.edu
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Abstract

The study evaluated whether durational and allophonic cues to word boundaries are intrinsic to syllable production, and so acquired with syllable structure, or whether they are suprasyllabic, and so acquired in phrasal contexts. Twenty preschool children (aged 3 ; 6 and 4 ; 6) produced: (1) single words with simple and complex onsets (e.g. nail vs. snail); and (2) two-word phrases with intervocalic consonant sequences and varying boundary locations (e.g. this nail vs. bitty snail). Comparisons between child and adult control productions showed that the durational juncture cue was emergent in the four-year-olds' productions of two-word phrases, but absent elsewhere. In contrast, the allophonic cue was evident even in the three-year-olds' productions of single words. Perceptual judgments showed that age- and type-dependent acoustic differences translated into differences in listener behavior. The differential acquisition of the two juncture cues is discussed with reference to the acquisition of articulatory timing control.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , November 2007 , pp. 815 - 843
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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