scholarly journals Abstract processing of syllabic structure in early infancy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Santolin ◽  
Juan M. Toro ◽  
Nuria Sebastian-Galles
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
New Combinations ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Young Infants ◽  
Syllabic Structure ◽  
Segment Process

Syllables are the building blocks of early language acquisition. From birth onwards, infants preferentially segment, process and represent the speech into syllabic units, raising the question of what type of computations infants are able to perform on these perceptual units. Syllables are abstract phonological units structured in a way that allows to group speech sounds into sequences. The goal of the present research was to investigate 4-to-5-month-old infants’ ability to track the abstract internal structure of syllables, at a target age when the language system is not yet specialized on the sounds and the phonotactics of native languages. After familiarization to lists of syllables implementing either CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) or CCV (consonant-consonant-vowel) structures, infants were presented with new syllables implementing both structures at test. Results showed that infants preferred test syllables that matched the familiar syllabic structure, especially the group of infants familiarized with CVC. Crucially, syllabic structures at test were implemented by new combinations of phonemes, forcing infants to encode some abstract properties of the familiarization stimuli, i.e., the internal syllabic structure.This study provides the first evidence of abstract processing of syllables as whole speech units in the first months of life. These findings contribute to advance our understanding of the type of computations young infants can perform on syllabic units.

Which came first: Infants learning language or motherese?

2004 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Bortfeld
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Speech Segmentation ◽  
Learning Language

Although motherese may facilitate language acquisition, recent findings indicate that not all aspects of motherese are necessary for word recognition and speech segmentation, the building blocks of language learning. Rather, exposure to input that has prosodic, phonological, and statistical consistencies is sufficient to jump-start the learning process. In light of this, the infant-directedness of the input might be considered superfluous, at least insofar as language acquisition is concerned.

The Role of Musical Development in Early Language Acquisition

2018 ◽  
pp. 565-591
Author(s):  
Anthony Brandt ◽  
L. Robert Slevc ◽  
Molly Gebrian
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Music And Language ◽  
Language And Music ◽  
Infant Brain

Language and music are readily distinguished by adults, but there is growing evidence that infants first experience speech as a special type of music. By listening to the phonemic inventory and prosodic patterns of their caregivers’ speech, infants learn how their native language is composed, later bootstrapping referential meaning onto this musical framework. Our current understanding of infants’ sensitivities to the musical features of speech, the co-development of musical and linguistic abilities, and shared developmental disorders, supports the view that music and language are deeply entangled in the infant brain and modularity emerges over the course of development. This early entanglement of music and language is crucial to the cultural transmission of language and children’s ability to learn any of the world’s tongues.

scholarly journals Duration measurement of vocants in infants with Cochlear Implants

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paris Binos
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Normal Hearing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Prosodic Feature ◽  
Verbal Skills ◽  
Young Infants

Vocants are precursors to speech and are facially neutral. The presence of these speechlike vocalizations was evident during the precursors to mature phonology called “protophones”. The prosodic feature of duration of the nuclei plays a crucial role in the shift of prelexical to mature speech, since speech intelligibility is closely related to the control of duration. The aim of this work is to determine whether cochlear implants (CIs) positively trigger language acquisition and the development of verbal skills. Recent literature findings are compared and discussed with the performance of two Greek congenitally hearing-impaired infants who were matched with three normal-hearing (NH) infants. This work highlighted an important weakness of the prosodic abilities of young infants with CIs.

Sharper Tools

2019 ◽  
pp. 255-276
Author(s):  
Lindsay Rose Russell
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
American Women ◽  
Missionary Work ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Linguistic Proficiency ◽  
Equality In Education

Discussing characteristics of nineteenth-century missionary women’s lives abroad, Russell demonstrates that the colonial, sociopolitical, and technological contexts involved in missionary work in Asia made dictionary-making a possible and appropriate employment for American women. Women involved in missionary work often enjoyed more opportunities for equality in education, allowing for language acquisition and scholarly pursuits that may not have been possible in their home country. These women gained linguistic proficiency through varied interactions—religious, educational, and otherwise—with members of their communities, and in many cases developed pragmatic lexicographical methods that tended to be less prescriptive and more inclusive and appreciative of native languages, in contrast to the colonializing discourse that characterized studies produced by male missionaries.

3. Sex and Family Background in Early Language Acquisition

1986 ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
Maria Peddemors-Boon ◽  
Marion Morelli-Kayser ◽  
Llesbeth Verhulst-SchlIchtIng
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Family Background ◽  
Early Language
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