Cantonese consonantal development: towards a nonlinear account

J Child Lang. 2001 Feb;28(1):195-212. doi: 10.1017/s0305000900004645.

Abstract

Descriptions of the development of prosodic and segmental tiers of children's phonological systems have been derived from investigations of the development of English. This paper provides a preliminary description of phonological tier development in Cantonese-speaking children. Eight children, (two each at 1;7, 2;6, 3;5, and 4;2 years) named 95 pictures. The data were analysed for word, syllable, onset-rime, skeletal, and segmental tiers. The results suggested a developmental order in the acquisition of hierarchical features. Decreasing order of accuracy of the tiers was word = syllable > onset-rime = skeletal > segmental. A model of feature geometry was adopted to describe the acquisition of features. An interesting finding is the way the laryngeal feature (aspiration) was combined with place contrasts one at a time rather than all at once.

MeSH terms

  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Language*
  • Male
  • Phonetics
  • Speech Production Measurement
  • Speech*
  • Verbal Behavior*