Language proximity and speech perception in young bilinguals

2018 ◽  
pp. 353-366
Author(s):  
Laura Bosch
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Phonological Representation ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Phonological Encoding ◽  
Language Differentiation ◽  
Phonological Categories ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Perceptual Narrowing ◽  
Different Levels

Linguistic experience shapes speech perception from the earliest stages of development. Infants growing up in bilingual contexts are exposed to a more complex linguistic input from which they will gradually build language-specific phonetic and phonological categories, eventually characterizing words in their early lexicons. Input languages can show different levels of proximity relative to their rhythmic, phonetic, phonological, or lexical properties. Does language proximity affect early speech perception processes, from language differentiation to perceptual narrowing and phonological representation of words in the bilinguals’ vocabulary? Data from infants growing up in Catalan-Spanish contexts, acquiring a close pair of Romance languages, are reviewed and contrasted with data from infants exposed to more distant language pairs. It is argued that language proximity can determine specific adjustments in bilinguals’ early phonetic perception and phonological encoding of words. Language proximity factors can account for differences among bilingual infants’ trajectories previously reported in the literature.

Perceptual narrowing in face- and speech-perception domains in infancy: A longitudinal approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 101607
Author(s):  
Anna Krasotkina ◽  
Antonia Götz ◽  
Barbara Höhle ◽  
Gudrun Schwarzer
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Longitudinal Approach ◽  
Perceptual Narrowing

Categorization and feature specification in phonological acquisition

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 397-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith A. Gierut
Keyword(s):  
Distinctive Feature ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Category Membership ◽  
Classification Task ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Phonological Categories ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Phonological Contrasts ◽  
Free Classification

ABSTRACTDistinctive feature specification and representation in phonological acquisition are examined in the context of underspecification theory. Subjects were 30 children (aged 3;1 to 5;10) who exhibited systematic differences in their linguistic knowledge of target phonological contrasts. A free classification task was used to tap children's conceptual knowledge of these contrasts, with features of place and manner experimentally manipulated. Three questions were addressed: which features do children use to categorize segmentai information, do the defining features of a category shift as the phonological system advances, and which framework of underspecification theory best accounts for the results? All children categorized segments on the basis of marked nonredundant featural properties, and used only one feature value to define category membership consistent with radical underspecification. Linguistic knowledge and linguistic input both influenced children's category judgements, but to different degrees. The emergence of phonological categories involved increasing feature differentiation as the child's productive phonology advanced.

scholarly journals Language and Learner Specific Influences on the Emergence of Consonantal Place and Manner Features

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvan Rose ◽  
Natalie Penney
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
First Language ◽  
Phonological Representation ◽  
Previous Literature ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Distributional Properties ◽  
Phonological Categories ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
The Way

This article focuses on the emergence of consonantal place and manner feature categories in the speech of first language learners. Starting with an overview of current representational approaches to phonology, we take the position that only models that allow for the emergence of phonological categories at all levels of phonological representation (from sub-segmental properties of speech sounds all the way to word forms represented within the child’s lexicon) can account for the data. We begin with a cross-linguistic survey of the acquisition of rhotic consonants. We show that the types of substitutions affecting different rhotics cross-linguistically can be predicted from two main observations: the phonetic characteristics of these rhotics and the larger system of categories displayed by each language. We then turn to a peculiar pattern of labial substitution for coronal continuants in the speech of a German learner. Building on previous literature on the topic, we attribute the emergence of this pattern to distributional properties of the child’s developing lexicon. Together, these observations suggest that our understanding of phonological emergence must involve a consideration of multiple, potentially interacting levels of phonetic and phonological representation.

scholarly journals Asymmetrical cross-language phonetic interaction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Phonological Representation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Alternative Theory ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
The Asymmetry ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract Two acoustic studies were carried out with L1 Polish learners of English. One study examined L1 phonetic drift, comparing learners of L2 English who were undergoing intensive L2 phonetic training with quasi-monolingual Polish speakers. The other study looked at L2 acquisition, comparing learners at two different levels of proficiency. Unlike most previous studies of Polish-English bilinguals, VOT data of both voiced and voiceless consonants were analyzed. In both experiments, an asymmetry was observed by which voiced stops were more susceptible to cross-language phonetic influence (CLI) than voiceless stops. These results build on evidence of a similar asymmetry observed in a number of other L1–L2 pairings. Predictions of competing phonological models are evaluated with regard to equivalence classification and phonetic CLI. It is shown that both traditional approaches to the phonological representation of voice contrasts fail to predict the observed asymmetry. An alternative theory, which predicts the asymmetry, is discussed.

The Phonological Representation of [VOICE] in Speech Perception

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 137-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allard Jongman ◽  
Joan A. Sereno ◽  
Marianne Raaijmakers ◽  
Aditi Lahiri
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Phonological Representation

A Survey of Phonological Mid Vowel Intuitions in Central Catalan

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret E L Renwick ◽  
Marianna Nadeu
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Phonological Representation ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Language History ◽  
Specific Association ◽  
Vowel Height ◽  
Spanish Bilinguals

Catalan, like other Romance languages, has two pairs of phonemic mid vowels (/be/ “well” vs. /bɛ/ “lamb”; /os/ “bear” vs. /ɔs/ “bone”). However, these contrasts do not function like others in the language: they are partially phonologically conditioned, and evidence shows that words may be pronounced with different mid vowels by speakers of the same variety or even by the same speaker. Spanish may influence this instability, as first-language Spanish Catalan-Spanish bilinguals struggle to perceive and produce the contrast. This paper investigates the mid vowel contrasts in an Internet survey of vowel height judgments in 220 words by 146 Central Catalan-speaking individuals who also self-reported their language history. Results confirm that certain phonological contexts condition mid vowel height, typically favoring low mid judgments; where phonological conditioning occurs, speakers judge quality with increased consistency and confidence. Many words lacking phonological conditioning environments, however, are variable across speakers. Bilingualism levels and age have an effect: among Catalan-dominant participants, choice of mid vowel is affected by age, while participants with the highest Catalan dominance have greatest confidence in their intuitions. Variably-judged words are also phonetically variable, indicating a word-specific association between strength of phonological representation and realization.

scholarly journals Language mixing in young bilinguals

1980 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy E. Redlinger ◽  
Tschang-Zin Park
Keyword(s):  
System Theory ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Part Of Speech ◽  
Language Mixing ◽  
Language Differentiation ◽  
Gradual Process ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
The One

ABSTRACTThe speech of four two-year-old children growing up bilingually in a German-speaking community was studied for periods varying between five and nine months. An analysis of their language mixing revealed an initially higher rate of mixing which diminished with a growth in language development as measured in MLU. The data suggest that the children were at various stages in a gradual process of language differentiation thus providing support for the one-system theory of bilingual acquisition. An examination of the distribution of lexical substitutions by part of speech revealed that nouns were most frequently substituted by all children; however, more function words were substituted than content words overall.

Speech Perception in Infancy

2013 ◽  
pp. 908-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet F. Werker ◽  
Judit Gervain
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Environmental Input ◽  
Perceptual Abilities ◽  
First Year Of Life ◽  
Different Levels

We discuss the development of speech perception and its contribution to the acquisition of the native language(s) during the first year of life, reviewing recent empirical evidence as well as current theoretical debates. We situate the discussion in an epigenetic framework in an attempt to transcend the traditional nature/nurture controversy. As we illustrate, some perceptual and learning mechanisms are best described as experience-expectant processes, embedded in our biology and awaiting minimal environmental input, while others are experience-dependent, emerging as a function of sufficient exposure and learning. We argue for a cascading model of development, whereby the initial biases guide learning and constrain the influence of the environmental input. To illustrate this, we first review the perceptual abilities of newborn infants, then discuss how these broad-based abilities are attuned to the native language at different levels (phonology, syntax, lexicon etc.).

scholarly journals A Connectionist Model of Phonological Representation in Speech Perception

1995 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gareth Gaskell ◽  
Mary Hare ◽  
William D. Marslen-Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Phonological Representation ◽  
Connectionist Model
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