First words and prosodic structures

This chapter presents data from four to eight children each learning one of six languages, British English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Italian, and Welsh. As a basis for cross-linguistic comparison the chapter first considers similarities and differences in the target forms of the first words of these children. It then presents the children’s later prosodic structures, including American English in the comparison. The chapter considers the development changes apparent from comparing the first words with the later structures and quantifies the extent of variegation in first word targets and later child word forms. In concluding, it is found that common resources are strongly in evidence in the first words but by the later point there is good evidence of ambient language influence as well as of individual differences within the groups.

Whole-word phonology

This chapter provides a historical overview of the ideas underlying ‘whole-word phonology’, from the 1970s to the present. The importance of a prosodic (syntagmatic) analysis is grounded in the ideas of Firth, as adapted to early child language (Waterson, 1971). Other studies have proposed ways in which ideas based on analyses of early child data, such as lexical primacy (Ferguson & Farwell, 1975) or Radical Templatic Phonology (Vihman & Croft, 2007), are relevant for adult as well as child language. Key ideas included in the overview are developmental reorganization (Macken, 1979), template matching and the two-stage model (Menn, 1983), and exemplar theory and usage-based models (Menn et al., 2013). The principles of Dynamic Systems Theory (Thelen & Smith, 1994) are related to early phonological and lexical development.

Conclusion

This chapter reviews the phases of early phonological and lexical development, based on the analyses of early words and prosodic structures (Chs. 3, 4), templatic patterns (Chs. 3, 5, 6), and the replacement of templates by more adult-like forms (Ch. 6). The role of memory in the process of template formation is discussed, contrasting the template model of lexical development with other theoretical approaches. The emergence of system-building is then related to the discussion (Ch. 1) of current studies in adult word learning and the distinction between lexical configuration and lexical engagement. In a brief account of current models of phonological development particular attention is given to the recently disseminated A-map model, which emphasizes accuracy and child-to-adult continuity within an Optimality Theoretic perspective. In a concluding section the function of adult and child templates is discussed again, highlighting the similarities observed in our data analyses (Ch. 8).

Building the evidence

This chapter presents data from six children learning American English at two developmental points: first word use and the end of the single-word period, when templates typically first begin to be identifiable. The chapter lays out procedures for identifying prosodic structures and variants and also consonant inventories, which give insight into the child’s resources for word production. Analysis of the most frequently used prosodic structures is followed by an analysis of each child’s data to permit template identification, based primarily on high proportionate use and adaptation. A developmental comparison of the two data sets shows continued reliance, by all the children, on the default or simplest CV structure, but advances in use of one- and two-syllable structures with codas. Consonant variegation is found to be the single greatest challenge for early word formation.

Relation of child to adult templates, I

This chapter reviews uses of the concept of templates in the literature on core grammar, beginning with the classic studies of Arabic plural formation in Prosodic Morphology, framed in terms of the ‘authentic units of prosody’. The author provides Good’s (2016) broad definition of templates within his typological approach, with an extended example from Tiene, and additional illustrations from Inkelas’ (2014) account of templates at the interface of phonology and morphology, including the inflectional but somewhat unpredictable patterning of the comparative/superlative morphemes in English. The chapter then provides an account of prosodic constraints and morphological alternation in Estonian, which are templatic in spirit if not in specific detail. Further examples derive from uses of reduplication in core grammar; an account of Czech morphology evokes variable shape templates. Finally, the author reports an experiment with English speakers showing an effect of output templates in innovative word formation.

Perspectives on phonological development

The chapter characterizes language as a system of links or associations and states the goal of gaining understanding of the origins of systematicity in the child. A working definition of ‘template’ is followed by an account of early accuracy followed by later regression in early phonological development, concomitants of emergent system-building. A review of the theoretical advances that led to the concept of ‘templates’ is followed by a brief summary of Dynamic Systems Theory, with its emphasis on non-linearity in development, and of holistic approaches to phonology, including exemplar representations. A broad chronological account of research into infant speech processing is complemented by a brief review of production studies, the articulatory filter hypothesis, and the experimental work that supports it. Finally, studies of adult word learning that distinguish between lexical configuration and lexical engagement are found to bring new insights to the construct of emergent systematicity.

Relation of child to adult templates, II

This chapter draws on informal or slang usage to look for parallels with child template use. Three sets of data are analysed in some detail. Clippings with suffixation are illustrated with both French and Estonian short forms and hypocoristics; similar patterns are cited for Australian English. The short forms in each case adhere to the minimal word constraints of the language in question, with French forms in -o fitting into one or two iambic feet while the Estonian forms, ending in obstruent+s, largely constitute a single heavy (monosyllabic) foot. Rhyming compounds are analysed for English. A strong bias is identified for the second word to begin with a labial, with parallels also cited in Hungarian. All of these adult template patterns are shown to stipulate both prosodic and segmental elements.

Issues around child templates

This chapter adds longitudinal analyses of children learning two languages not yet included here, Lebanese Arabic and Brazilian Portuguese. It then looks at two more children learning British English, a diary and an observational study, each of which permits closer examination of the emergence and facing of templates. The chapter then reviews a study of expressive late talkers, providing a procedure for quantifying template use and illustrating it with analyses of three British late talkers with good comprehension skills. The study was too small to draw firm conclusions, but it did show that for late talkers, unlike typically developing children, templates may prove more of a hindrance than a help in phonological and lexical advance. In concluding the chapter considers the function of child templates, noting ways in which they may be supporting of word learning for children whose strongest phonetic limitations fall within the first two years.

Phonological templates in development

This chapter presents cross-linguistic data from two children each from the language groups represented in Chapter 4. The child’s consonantal resources are evaluated, with examples of the child’s word forms. This is followed by an account of the child’s prosodic structures and their relative frequency of use. Active template use is evaluated, based in part on the extent to which the child adapts words to fit those structures. A correlation is found between the children’s production of consonant matches and the extent of variegation in their word forms. Finally, an overview is provided of template use in the 18 children whose patterns have been considered in detail. Consonant harmony is found to be the pattern most frequently deployed, but a VCV pattern is used by five of the children (French, Finnish, Italian, Welsh). The pattern is traced to accentual aspects of the ambient language.