Asynchronization at the phonology-morphology interface: A case study of an atypically developing Hebrew-acquiring boy

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present a case study of an atypically developing Hebrew-acquiring boy (YV), in comparison with three typically developing boys. Drawing on data from longitudinal studies, we examined the development of two verbal suffixes, -im ‘ms.pl.pres’ and -ti ‘1.sg.past’, with reference to two prosodic structures that these suffixes assume – word final codas for -im and trisyllabic words for -ti (e.g. bon-ím ‘they build’, kará-ti ‘I read’). We found that YV’s developmental trajectory was similar to that of the three boys in both phonology and morphology, each module independently; the deviant phenomena were found at the interface between phonology and morphology. The typically developing boys produced the relevant phonological structures in bare stems before they produced them in suffixed forms. YV, however, proceeded in the opposite order; he produced the final m in -im verbs before mastering word final codas in bare stems; similarly, he produced trisyllabic forms in -ti verbs before mastering them in bare stems. We attribute this deviance to asynchronization between phonological (prosodic) and morphological development. That is, YV’s phonology lagged behind his morphology, but this lag did not block the morphological development as it would have in synchronized development.