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Segmental distributions and consonant-vowel association patterns in Japanese infant- and adult-directed speech*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2013

SHO TSUJI ,
KENYA NISHIKAWA  and
REIKO MAZUKA
SHO TSUJI
Affiliation:
Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, International Max-Planck Research School for Language Sciences, and Laboratory for Language Development, RIKEN Brain Sciences Institute
KENYA NISHIKAWA
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Language Development, RIKEN Brain Sciences Institute
REIKO MAZUKA
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Language Development, RIKEN Brain Sciences Institute, and Duke University
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Abstract

Japanese infant-directed speech (IDS) and adult-directed speech (ADS) were compared on their segmental distributions and consonant-vowel association patterns. Consistent with findings in other languages, a higher ratio of segments that are generally produced early was found in IDS compared to ADS: more labial consonants and low-central vowels, but fewer fricatives. Consonant-vowel associations also favored the early produced labial-central, coronal-front, coronal-central, and dorsal-back patterns. On the other hand, clear language-specific patterns included a higher frequency of dorsals, affricates, geminates, and moraic nasals in IDS. These segments are frequent in adult Japanese, but not in the early productions or the IDS of other studied languages. In combination with previous results, the current study suggests that both fine-tuning (an increased use of early produced segments) and highlighting (an increased use of language-specifically relevant segments) might modify IDS on the segmental level.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 41 , Issue 6 , November 2014 , pp. 1276 - 1304
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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Footnotes

[*]

We want to thank Mary Beckman, Paula Fikkert, and Clara Levelt for making us aware of the topic of segmental distribution in Japanese infant-directed speech, and Alex Cristia, Robert Grayson, and Kouki Miyazawa for helpful comments throughout revision of the manuscript.

References

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