Double onset syllable structure in a speech disordered child

Abstract

We describe the syllable structures of a 6-year-old child referred with severely unintelligible speech. Whereas in spontaneous connected speech her normal syllable structure had glottal stop in onset and coda positions, in clinician-directed repetitions of syllables she normally used what we term a double onset. The double onset was of three types, and we invoke insights from autosegmental phonology to account for these. We also note how two double onset types reflect the sonority sequencing principle. Finally, we proffer an explanation of the development of double onset syllables in termsof strategies adopted by clinicians to emphasise onset consonants.