Year: 2007
Type: dissertation
Study design: Case Report
Abstract: This work describes and analyzes the evolution of the consonantal system of one child, Marilyn. The period considered ranges from two to three years old, which corresponds to when most changes took place in her phonological system. The analysis focuses specifically on: consonant acquisition in word-final position and in word-medial branching rhymes, the acquisition of voicing contrasts as well as fricatives substitutions by [l] and processes affecting consonantal place and manner of articulation. The theoretical framework used in the analysis is based on segmental and prosodic representations along with a formalism based on constraint interaction. The interaction between the various constraints governs the shape of surface forms as well as relations between underlying and surface forms. I also take into consideration the effects of external factors which can influence Marilyn’s productions. In particular, I focus on the effects of the specific physiology of the child’ immature vocal tract, the question of motor control, in addition to the frequency of consonants in the ambient language.This work thus integrates external factors into the phonological analysis in order to explain Marilyn’s productions during the time period under investigation. This integration reveals the existence of a complex but systematic interaction between phonological and external factors. I demonstrate that the child’s phonological system reacts to constraints imposed by the external factors, which yields the emergence of various phonological processes in Marilyn’s speech.
Source: HAL
Author: Christophe dos Santos
Language: French
Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2605597814