Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 September 2008
This paper reports the results of a preliminary study dealing with the ways in which children between six and seven years of age organize spoken language. In particular it deals with aspects of the temporal and segmental structure of polysyllabic English words containing the syllable C/jul/ (e.g. pediculous). On the basis of data presented, it is suggested (a) that in order to meet certain phonological conditions it is the relations between syllable (and not segment) durations which must undergo modification towards the adult duration values, and (b) that the achievement of such values is accompanied by some quasi-systematic alterations in phonological rules.
This research was supported by grant MR-4217 from the Medical Research Council of Canada. A shorter version of this paper was presented at the Child Language Research Forum, Stanford University, April 1976. We should like to express thanks to our colleagues André-Pierre Benguerel and David Ingram for their observations and comments. Address for correspondence: Phonetics Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1W5, Canada.