Consonant Cluster Reduction Research Articles

Variation in Non-native Speech: How Far Do Non-native Speakers Replicate Target Constraints on Variation? A Novel Approach

This paper introduces a new framework to analyze how non-native speakers adhere to native-speaker norms of variation in contact settings. The author focuses on a well-established phonological variable in both native and contact-induced varieties of English: consonant cluster reduction. This process involves either dropping or maintaining a final coronal stop (t,d) in a consonant cluster in words such as "mind" and "west." The paper uses standard variationist methodologies to establish the constraints on consonant cluster reduction in a native-speaker group (Wellingtonian English) and a non-native speaker sample (Arab migrants to Wellington). The study then compares these constraints, identifying any changes introduced by non-native speakers. The results show that the non-native group is highly attuned to dialect-specific aspects of variation and demonstrates a deletion rate close to native speakers. Additionally, they exhibit a strong transfer of target articulatory constraints related to consonant cluster reduction and acquire the social cues associated with this variation. Interestingly, these patterns of variation in non-native speech are consistent across similar non-native groups, irrespective of first language, proficiency in English, and the complexity of the target constraints on variation.

Speech perception and production abilities in a group of Italian preschoolers aged 72–78 months

Objectives The present work aims to contribute to the debate on the relationship between discrimination and production abilities in older pre-school-aged children and to fill a gap in the literature by providing evidence about this relationship in typically developing children speaking Italian, a language that is under-investigated. Methods Two novel tests, an AX ‘same/different’ phonological discrimination test and a phonetic test, were administered to a sample of Italian pre-school children aged 72–78 months. Discrimination was tested at the feature and the syllable levels. Production was analyzed for consonant repertoire and the presence of phonological processes, such as devoicing or consonant cluster reduction. Results In the AX test, significantly worse performance was found for syllables than for individual features. However, in production, no significant difference was found among phonological processes. No significant correlations were found between children’s performance in the two tests. Conclusion The current data suggest that children’s discrimination and production abilities for speech are still developing after age 6. There is no complete overlap between what children produce and what they discriminate. The implications of these findings for theories of language development are discussed.

Is children’s speech development changing? Preliminary evidence from Australian English-speaking 3-year-olds

Purpose: Around 9% of children have difficulty acquiring intelligible speech despite typical sensory, neuro-motor and cognitive function. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) rely on descriptions of children’s speech errors to identify speech sound disorder (SSD) and determine intervention targets and goals. Existing normative data, however, need re-evaluation to reflect changes in populations and the language learning environment. This research evaluates whether developmental phonological patterns widely accepted as describing typical acquisition predict speech errors in a recent sample of pre-school children. Method: In 2015, 99 neurotypical children aged 3;0–3;8 years;months were assessed using the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP). Their performance was compared to studies describing speech development by children of the same age for phone repertoire and phonological patterns. Result: There were differences for both measures. Phone repertoire differences were marginal, but changes in phonological pattern use were unexpected. Suppression of three developmental phonological patterns (stopping of fricatives, final consonant deletion and voicing contrasts) was delayed compared to previous norms. Atypical consonant cluster reduction, sometimes considered a marker for disorder, was observed in 10% of children. Conclusion: There were qualitative differences in the speech development of the 2015 cohort of children compared to previous developmental norms. Valid and current normative data are necessary for the accurate identification of children needing intervention. The differences we found reinforce the need for regular updating of assessment tools, as well as greater understanding of how children’s language learning environments are changing and potentially influencing speech development.

Phonological development in school-aged Kuwaiti Arabic children with Down syndrome: A pilot study

BackgroundStudies on atypical phonological development are very limited for Arabic, and to date no studies on Arabic have investigated the development of phonology in children with conditions such as Down Syndrome. Arabic, like other Semitic languages, is rich in consonants and consonantal variation. However, it differs greatly from region to region, and so reports on individual dialects or regional dialects are necessary. Kuwaiti Arabic, the focus of the present paper, is similar to other dialects in the Gulf region. AimThis is a preliminary study to examine the phonological development of school-aged Kuwaiti Arabic–speaking children with Down Syndrome in order to start to address the research gap noted above. Methods & ProceduresSix Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking children were recruited for this pilot study from integrated public schools where children with disabilities and typically developing children are enrolled in the State of Kuwait: three male and three female students, age range of 5;10–12;3 years. All participants had the same single word speech test of 100 words. The first author, a native speaker of Kuwaiti Arabic, audio-recorded and phonetically transcribed the sample with the help of two speech-language pathologists from Kuwait. Reliability was confirmed by the first author and another expert rater. Both match and mismatch analyses were performed and compared to existing literature. Outcomes & ResultsOverall consonant accuracy across participants was 50%, with a variety of matches across consonant categories. However, the participants also exhibited a wide range of mismatches across positions in words and phonological features (place, manner, and laryngeal features). Place substitutions were the most frequent. Some sounds exhibited double (place and manner) mismatches. The most common word structure mismatch was consonant cluster reduction (no matches for word-initial clusters). Mismatch patterns resembled both those of normally developing Kuwaiti children and those of English speakers with Down Syndrome in certain ways. Conclusions & ImplicationsThis pilot study provides preliminary information for clinicians regarding the speech or children with Down Syndrome (DS), not only in Kuwait but also in the Gulf region where there are similarities to Kuwaiti Arabic.

COMMUNICATIVE ACTS AND PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF MALE CHILDREN AT FREE PLAY

This study was conducted to explain the communicative acts and phonologicalprocesses of Cebuano-English speaking children in interacting with their parent duringfree play, using video-tape recorder. It is a qualitative and quantitative method of the 4 male Cebuano- English speaking children aged 4 years old residing in Palompon, Leyte. The research result showed that the most occurring communicative acts were obliging andcontrol acts. Also the most dominant phonological processes of children were stopping,consonant cluster reduction, and gliding.Keywords: communicative acts, phonological processes, play

Apparent ‘sufficiently similar’ degemination in Catalan is due to coalescence

Cameron et al. (2010) and Fruehwald & Gorman (2011) present the pattern of homorganic consonant cluster reduction in Catalan as a challenge to Baković’s (2005) theory of antigemination, which predicts that any feature ignored in the determination of consonant identity for the purposes of antigemination in a given language must independently assimilate in that language. I argue that the pattern in Catalan is not a counterexample to this prediction if the reduction process is analyzed as coalescence, following Wheeler (2005), rather than as deletion.

СЛОГОВАЯ СТРУКТУРА СЛОВ В РЕЧИ ТРЁХЛЕТНИХ ДЕТЕЙ

The way children acquire syllable structure of words characterizes the level of their speech development. It is assumed that 3=year=olds without any disorders do not have any difficulties with constructing syllables. The current paper describes the results of an acoustic study of word syllable structure in the speech of twenty Russian 3=year=old subjects. 75% of them demonstrated from 3 to 7 syllable structure changes. The maximum of 13,2% of the total of 53 words were characterized by those changes. There were examples of word-initial single-consonant elision, syllable elision, syllable transposition, sounds transposition, insertions of hard and soft forelingual /l/ and /lʲ/ into a syllable, and anticipation. Consonant cluster reduction was also noticed; it did not change the number of syllables in words. Clusters that were more and less resistant to reduction were determined.

Phonologische Entwicklung bei Kindern mit Cochleaimplantat(en)

Normal-hearing children show signs of various phonological processes during language development. These processes represent simplifications of articulation, which are overcome at different time points. For the German language, there are currently no reliable data regarding whether these developmental stages also apply to deaf children with cochlear implants (CI). Phonological development in deaf children with CI was examined and evaluated with the PLAKSS ("Psycholinguistischen Analyse kindlicher Sprechstörungen"). The results of this analysis (time of test1 =T1, n = 33) were compared to those of a PLAKSS diagnostic evaluation performed 1year previously (time of test0 =T0, n = 31). At T1, 76 % of the whole group showed a phonological development that did not correspond to their hearing age (as measured from the time of the first CI implantation). The most frequently observed phonological processes were the reduction of consonant clusters and fronting. However, 83 % of the group had fewer phonological processes inappropriate to their hearing age at T1 than they did at T0. The phonological development of children with CI is not equivalent to their hearing age and is structured differently to that of normal-hearing children.

Consonant Cluster Reduction in Spontaneous English Speech by Korean Learners of English

Consonant Cluster Reduction in Spontaneous English Speech by Korean Learners of English

Korean consonant cluster reduction: focus on markedness-oriented PREC

Korean consonant cluster reduction: focus on markedness-oriented PREC

The recognition of frequent suffixes and the parsing of verb roots in 11-month-old infants

Studies on atypical phonological development are very limited for Arabic, and to date no studies on Arabic have investigated the development of phonology in children with conditions such as Down Syndrome. Arabic, like other Semitic languages, is rich in consonants and consonantal variation. However, it differs greatly from region to region, and so reports on individual dialects or regional dialects are necessary. Kuwaiti Arabic, the focus of the present paper, is similar to other dialects in the Gulf region.This is a preliminary study to examine the phonological development of school-aged Kuwaiti Arabic–speaking children with Down Syndrome in order to start to address the research gap noted above.Six Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking children were recruited for this pilot study from integrated public schools where children with disabilities and typically developing children are enrolled in the State of Kuwait: three male and three female students, age range of 5;10–12;3 years. All participants had the same single word speech test of 100 words. The first author, a native speaker of Kuwaiti Arabic, audio-recorded and phonetically transcribed the sample with the help of two speech-language pathologists from Kuwait. Reliability was confirmed by the first author and another expert rater. Both match and mismatch analyses were performed and compared to existing literature.Overall consonant accuracy across participants was 50%, with a variety of matches across consonant categories. However, the participants also exhibited a wide range of mismatches across positions in words and phonological features (place, manner, and laryngeal features). Place substitutions were the most frequent. Some sounds exhibited double (place and manner) mismatches. The most common word structure mismatch was consonant cluster reduction (no matches for word-initial clusters). Mismatch patterns resembled both those of normally developing Kuwaiti children and those of English speakers with Down Syndrome in certain ways.This pilot study provides preliminary information for clinicians regarding the speech or children with Down Syndrome (DS), not only in Kuwait but also in the Gulf region where there are similarities to Kuwaiti Arabic.

Communities of Practice in Sociolinguistic Description

In this paper, we examine the identities of eight women who share similar demographic profiles but exhibit different language practices. These middle-aged and older women belong to two social groups, which, we argue, constitute two communities of practice within a small black Appalachian community in the Southern United States. From interview data, we analyze six diagnostic sociolinguistic variables (third singular -s absence, copula absence, rhoticity, consonant cluster reduction, habitual be) and also examine productions of /u/ and /o/. The groups differ significantly in their use of the morphosyntactic and syntactic variables and in their vowel productions, but not the consonantal features. Combining our quantitative findings with qualitative data, we suggest language is one of several vehicles the women use to transmit symbolic messages to others and thereby construct identities for themselves and their groups, whose members adhere to different language ideologies, religious norms, notions of feminine decorum, and educational standards.

African American English: A Linguistic Introduction (review)

Reviewed by: African American English: A linguistic introduction by Lisa Green Tracey L. Weldon African American English: A linguistic introduction. By Lisa Green. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Pp. xii, 285. ISBN 0521814499. $31.99. Lisa Green’s African American English: A linguistic introduction is a thorough, insightful, well-organized overview of the structure and use of African American English (AAE). In this book, G accomplishes her goal of describing what ‘speakers know when they know African American English’ (1) by presenting, in clear detail, the rule-governed nature of the variety and the many and varied ways that it is used by members of the African American speech community. After a short introductory chapter, in which she briefly addresses the labeling of the variety and the well-documented linguistic debate over its origins, G turns to a synchronic description of AAE. In Ch. 1, she proposes a three-part organization of the AAE lexicon that includes general words and phrases, aspectual markers, and current slang terms associated with particular age groups or regions. In Ch. 2, she describes the syntactic properties of aspectual markers be, bin, and dən, showing how they are used in AAE and how these uses differ from the uses of auxiliary verbs of similar form in general American English. Ch. 3 focuses on other syntactic properties, including rules of negation, existential constructions, question and relative clause formation, preterite constructions, and certain morphosyntactic properties. Ch. 4 describes the phonology of AAE, focusing on processes such as consonant cluster reduction, final consonant devoicing, liquid vocalization, sound substitutions, and various types of vowel and prosodic patterning. After demonstrating the rule-governed nature of the variety, G turns, in Ch. 5, to a description of African American rhetorical strategies, including signifying, marking, rapping, and loud talking. She looks at nonverbal expressions such as cutting eyes and giving dap. And she describes some of the ritualized language found in African American church services. In Ch. 6, G analyzes the authenticity and effect of strategies used by writers from various time periods in their representation of phonological, syntactic, and lexical features of AAE. Ch. 7 looks at the representation of AAE in the media, with a discussion of both the minstrel-type language used to exaggerate stereotypes and the use of actual structural and rhetorical features for creating various types of images in television and film. Finally, Ch. 8 deals with attitudes toward AAE, ranging from linguistic approaches to the variety to the layperson’s perspectives, with a particular focus on the legitimacy of AAE and its role in employment and education. While many books have been written about AAE, especially in the last decade, G provides one of the most comprehensive introductions to the variety for students of linguistics. The level of detail and sophistication with which she presents the material makes it ideal for undergraduate or beginning graduate students in linguistics, who are seeking a thorough introduction to the variety. From the focal points and excerpts that begin each chapter to the summaries and exercises that end them, this book is detailed, data-driven, and well-informed and is truly an important contribution to the study of AAE. Tracey L. Weldon University of South Carolina Copyright © 2006 Linguistic Society of America

African American English in Appalachia

Recent studies of bi-ethnic enclave dialect communities in the American South suggest that earlier versions of African American speech both accommodated local dialect norms and exhibited a persistent substratal effect from the early African-European contact situation. We examine this hypothesis by considering the sociolinguistic situation in Texana, North Carolina, a small African American community in the Smoky Mountain region of Appalachia. Though its population is only about 150 residents, it is the largest African American community in the Smoky Mountains. This study considers diagnostic sociolinguistic variables for Texana residents in order to examine the extent to which the members of this African American community align their speech with local dialect norms as the basis for evaluating the status of earlier and contemporary African American English (AAE) in Appalachia. Morphosyntactic variables examined are 3rd pl. -s attachment, 3rd sg. -s absence, copula absence, and past tense be leveling; phonological variables include rhoticity, syllable coda consonant cluster reduction, and /ai/ glide weakening. When compared to cohort white Appalachian speakers, data from older Texana residents confirm the regional accommodation of earlier AAE and at the same time point toward substrate influence in the historical development of AAE. However, unlike AAE in other enclave regional contexts, we find that the dialect of younger residents is not moving toward a supraregional norm of AAE. Instead, young speakers are accommodating several key features of Southern American English, specifically the Southern Appalachian English (AppE) variety that is characteristic of the Smoky Mountain region of North Carolina. Explanations for the attested diachronic changes as well as future trajectories of change for Texana speakers must appeal to sociopsychological factors such as regional identity and orientation to explain local community language norms.

Variable and Stable Clusters: Variation in the Realisation of Consonant Clusters

AbstractThis article reports on between-individual and within-individual variation in consonant cluster reduction strategies (where C1C2is realised as C(or C2) among young children. The empirical base of the study is a Dutch database with over 9,000 instances ofC1and C2realisations of 23 word-initial consonant clusters from 45 children aged between two and three years old. The study finds that within-child variation is very limited, whereas between-child variation occurs. It is also shown that there are typological implications; that is, realising C2in clustery, implies realising C2in cluster y, but not vice versa. The data provide support for the position that variation can be accounted for by a finer grained notion of sonority where the sonority distance between the two consonants in a cluster plays a crucial role in establishing prosodic constituency.

Convergence and language shift in New Zealand: Consonant cluster reduction in 19th Century Maori English

L'A. analyse des enregistrements de locuteurs maoris et pakehas nes entre 1860 et 1870 afin de determiner les effets des contacts de langues sur les premieres formes d'anglais parlees en Nouvelle-Zelande. L'analyse de la reduction des groupes de consonnes donne un apercu des processus d'assimilation de l'anglais maori et pakeha a la fin du 19 e et au debut du 20 e siecle

Evidencing Nonstandard Feature Dynamics

Via a Speak Aloud and Write protocol methodology, this study investigated the characteristics of the wording formulation process of a select group of 7 African American students in freshman composition who claimed nonstandard features were active at least 30% to 40% of the time while they composed their papers. Control of rhetorical context was established in terms of tone (formal), purpose (to explain or argue), audience (English instructor), and the time-place context (“simultaneously” spoken-written at one sit-ting). Two Speak Aloud and Write transcripts per participant were analyzed for grammatical and “pronunciation-related” nonstandard feature dynamics in reference to consequences on the page, given the requirements of freshman composition. Findings indicate complex dynamics at work in the form of 7 feature dynamic patterns and 19 variations, with particularly marked activity in relation to a consonant cluster reduction feature and to specific verbal nonconcord features. Also, students who shared feature dynamics pattern characteristics generally shared literacy background characteristics.

Cross-language similarities and differences in spontaneous speech patterns

Quasi-spontaneous dialogues from six languages which, according to recent discussion of rhythmic types, belong to three rhythmic groups – Russian and Bulgarian as ‘stress-timed’, Italian and Greek as ‘syllable-timed’ and Polish and Czech as an intermediate ‘mixed’ type – were examined for the following segmental reduction phenomena: reduction of consonant clusters, weakening of consonant articulation, residual properties from elided consonants in the original context segments, phonetic schwa-isation and syllable elision. The hypothesis tested was that there are comparable reduction phenomena in all languages since all languages allow for variation in the time and effort invested in any given part of an utterance as a means to support the relative weight of elements within the information structure. This hypothesis was borne out in principle, though there were a small number of exceptions across the six languages to the occurrence of reduction types examined.

The influence of sonority on children's cluster reductions

Two studies of consonant cluster reduction in children with normal language development were performed. Children ranged in age from 1;1 to 3;2. Both investigations tested a hypothesis of consonant cluster reduction based on the Sonority Theory. This hypothesis predicted that children would reduce clusters to whichever consonant would result in the least complex syllable as defined by sonority. More specifically, the hypothesis predicted that children would reduce initial clusters to whichever consonant produced the greatest rise in sonority and final clusters to whichever consonant produced a minimal sonority descent. Results of both studies support this sonority-driven account of cluster reduction.

Efficacy of Intervention for a Bilingual Child Making Articulation and Phonological Errors

This treatment case study presents a five-year-old bilingual Cantonese/English speaking boy with articulation and phonological errors. It reports two treatment phases: articulation therapy and phonological therapy. The articulation therapy was given in English and targeted the distorted production of / s/. The result was a perceptually acceptable pronunciation of / s/ in both English and Cantonese. The phonological therapy, also given in English, targeted cluster reduction, but it was only effective in treating English errors. The reduction of consonant clusters in Cantonese remained unchanged. These data have implications for two issues: the separateness of bilingual children's two phonological systems, and the differences between articulation and phonological errors.