Abstract
This study examined the acoustic characteristics of disyllabic words produced by French-speaking monolingual and bilingual children, aged 2;6 to 6;10, and by adults. Specifically, it investigated the influence of age, bilingualism, and vocabulary on final-to-initial syllable duration ratios and on the presence of initial and final accent. Children and adults took part in a word-naming task in which they produced a controlled set of disyllabic words. Duration and maximum pitch were measured for each syllable of the disyllabic word and these values were inserted into mixed-effects statistical models. Results indicated that children as young as 2;6 obtained final-to-initial syllable duration ratios similar to those of adults. Young children realized accent on the initial syllable more often and accent on the final syllable less often than older children and adults. There was no influence of bilingualism on the duration and pitch characteristics of disyllabic words. Children aged 2;6 with smaller vocabularies produced initial accent more often than children with large vocabularies. Our findings suggest that early word productions are constrained by developmental tendencies favouring falling pitch across an utterance.
Highlights
French is described as a language with phrase-final accent
In the case of the younger children, we examined the effect of French and Total vocabulary on the duration ratios while controlling for vowel quality, syllable structure, repetition, and bilingual type, and we examined the effect of vocabulary on pitch accent while controlling for bilingual status, imitation, repetition, and function word
This study examined the presence of initial and final accent in disyllabic words produced by children and adults in a word-naming task
Summary
French is described as a language with phrase-final accent. Primary stress falls on the final syllable of the last lexical item in a phonological phrase (Dell, 1984). In addition to primary stress, an optional pitch accent may occur on the initial syllable of lexical words (Astésano et al, 2007; Goad & Buckley, 2006; Jun & Fougeron, 1995, 2000, 2002; Post, 2000). French prosody would not be complete without reference to it (Astésano et al, 2007; Jun & Fougeron, 2000; Post, 2000); few studies have investigated initial accent in child speech. In the remainder of the introduction, we discuss initial and final accent in adult speech and prosodic development in French child speech, and complete the section with the research predictions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
