IX - The Acquisition of Tone

Abstract

This chapter discusses five sets of question regarding the acquisition of tone. All five sets include questions that may be related to the research on the nature of segmental phonology acquisition in that possible differences between segmental and tonal acquisition have particular bearing on phonological theory: (1) chronology of acquisition: (A) what is the relationship between the time when the child has mastered the tone system and the time when E1 has mastered the segmental system of E's language? and (B) in what order is mastery over the various tones in the system acquired?; (2) deviations from the adult norm: (A) what range of substitutions do children make for tones which they have not yet mastered or acquired which occur in the adult language?; (3) variation in the process of acquisition: (A) to what extent is there variation in strategies for tone acquisition among children learning the same language? and (B) to what extent is there variation in the acquisition of tone from one language to another?; (4) tone rules: (A) what are the differences in the child's output before, during, and after a tone rule is acquired? and (B) at what stage of the acquisitional process are tone rules acquired?; and (5) the child's perception of tone: (A) to what extent is tone perception more advanced than tone production in first language acquisition? And (B) in what way do the child's problems in perceiving tonal contrasts parallel apparent difficulties in the production of these contrasts?