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Phonological development from babbling to speech: Common tendencies and individual differences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Marilyn May Vihman ,
Charles A. Ferguson  and
Mary Elbert
Marilyn May Vihman*
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Charles A. Ferguson
Affiliation:
Stanford University
Mary Elbert
Affiliation:
Indiana University
*
Marilyn M. Vihman, Department of Linguistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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Abstract

Taking as a point of departure Locke's biological model for the origins of phonological development, this study encompasses analyses of phonetic tendencies, consonant use in babbling and early words, and phonological word-selection patterns. Data from 10 children aged 9 to 16 months are drawn from four lexically defined points covering the period from no word use to a cumulative vocabulary of 50 words. Individual differences are found to prevail from the start in all three domains analyzed, with some increase in uniformity across subjects with increasing knowledge of language. Furthermore, the phonological processes typical of development from age 1 to 3 or 4 years are found to be rooted in the phonetic tendencies of the prelinguistic period.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 1986 , pp. 3 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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References

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