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Phonemic structures of delayed phonological systems*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Judith A. Gierut*
Affiliation:
Indiana University
Christina L. Simmerman
Affiliation:
Indiana University
Heidi J. Neumann
Affiliation:
Indiana University
*
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.

Abstract

The phonemic inventories of 30 children (aged 3;4–5;7) with phonological delays were examined in terms of featural distinctions in order to address universal vs. individual accounts of acquisition. Phonetic inventories of these same children were also identified for comparison purposes. Across children, four hierarchical and implicationally related types of phonemic inventory were identified. The typology uniquely captured common distinctions maintained by all children, and at the same time, allowed for individual differences in the specific phonemic composition of each system. These cross-sectional results have theoretical implications for the longitudinal course of phonemic acquisition. In particular, children appear to have a number of linguistic choices that relate to the course, the specifics, and the mechanism of change in acquisition.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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Footnotes

[*]

This research was supported in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health (DC 00433, DC 01694, DC 00076) to Indiana University. The results are an extension of a master's thesis completed by Christina Simmerman. Steven Chin, Daniel Dinnsen and Mary Hughes provided helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper. We also appreciate the comments of David Ingram and an anonymous JCL reviewer. William Bowers, Elizabeth Connell Anttonen, Mary Hughes and Faith Salesin served as reliability judges. Portions of this paper were presented at the 1991 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Atlanta, the 1992 Child Phonology Conference, Urbana, IL, and the 1992 Boston University Conference on Language Development, Boston.

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