Acoustical cues versus top-down bias in infants’ parsing

Abstract

French liaison involves the surfacing of an underlying consonant as the onset of the following vowel-initial word (e.g., les amis - /le/ /zami /), creating misalignment. However, acoustic cues that support vowel-initial parsing may exist. We tested French-learning 30-month-olds using a preferential looking procedure. Familiarization stimuli in experiment 1 were sentences each containing a determiner preceding a vowel-initial non-word (e.g., ces onches). Infants’ parsing of the non-word was assessed. The vowel-initial condition presented the vowel-initial non-word versus another non-target (onches - èque). The syllabic condition tested the consonant-initial parse (zonches - zèque). Infants in the vowel-initial, but not the syllabic condition, showed discrimination (p = 0.008), i.e., they correctly parsed the vowel-initial target, possibly using acoustic cues. However, knowledge of underlying liaison consonants can also explain these results. In experiment 2, we removed acoustic cues to vowel-initial parsing by using a consonant-initial non-word following a determiner as the familiarization stimuli (e.g., un zonches). Infants were tested with the same two conditions as in experiment 1. Infants yielded the same results as in experiment 1, showing discrimination only in the vowel-initial condition (p = 0.047). Taken together, 30-month-olds perceived /z/ as an underlying floating element; they used this liaison knowledge, rather than possible acoustical cues, for parsing.