Spontaneous word fragmentations in children: evidence for the syllable as a unit in speech production

Abstract

Part-word repetitions and word-internal pauses which occurred in two 2-3-year-old boys recorded spontaneous speech were analysed. A common framework for the assessment of these two types of fragmentations was employed in which interruptions of the articulatory process were distinguished from restarts. Interruptions occurred in monosyllabic as well as in polysyllabic words. In polysyllabic words interruptions mostly preserved CV(C) units. In these cases they were followed by immediate restarts i.e. the continuation of articulation from the point of interruption onwards. In cases where interruptions distorted CV(C) structure, a high proportion of retraced restarts was found. Retraced restarts involved either the word beginning (full retracing) or an intervocalic consonant directly preceding the place of interruption (partial retracing). These results support the hypothesis that the production of speech involves syllable-sized articulatory units. Supplementary results on the locations of speech interruptions show correspondences with results of elicited syllabification experiments. Some consequences for a theory of the development of speech production are discussed.