Phonology Revision

How are sounds produced? Sounds are produced by air from the lungs passing across the vocal cords. Consonant: a speech sound that is produced when a vocal tract is either blocked or so restricted so that there is audible friction. Vowel: a sound made without closure or audible friction. Dipthong: a vowel in which there is a perceptible change in quality during a syllable. E.g ‘ride’(ai), ‘void’(oy), or ‘thorn’(aw).

Types of sound Examples Plosives or stops are created when the airflow is blocked for a brief time. p, t, k; b, d, g, Fricatives are created when the airflow is only partially blocked and air moves through the mouth in a steady stream. S in sip th in thing Sh in ship th in this Z in zip f in fox S in vision Affricatives are created by putting plosives and fricatives together. J ch Approximants are similar sounds to vowels R w Nasals are produced by air moving through the nose. M N ing as in ring Laterals are created by placing the tongue on the ridge of the teeth and then air moving down the side of the mouth. L http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/english_main.swf

Common phonological errors: Deletion Substitution Addition Reduplication assimilation

Term Explanation Examples Deletion Omitting the final consonant in words. Do instead of dog Substitution Substituting one sound for another (especially the harder sounds that develop later e.g. sh or th.) Pip instead of ship Addition Adding an extra vowel sound to the ends of words, creating a ‘cvcv’ pattern. doggie Assimilation Changing one consonant or vowel for another (as in early plosive sounds) Gog for dog Reduplication Repeating a whole syllable Dada, mama Consonant cluster reductions Consonant clusters can be difficult to articulate, so children reduce them to smaller units Pider instead of spider Deletion of unstressed syllables Omitting the opening syllable in polysyllabic words. Nana for banana

The “fis” phenomenon Berko and Brown (1960s). Discovered that a child who referred to a plastic inflatable fish as a “fis”, couldn’t link to an adult’s use of “fis” with the same object. Child: A fis Adult: is this your fis? Child: no Child: A fis Adult: is this your fish? Child: yes, my fis Why do you think that the child only responded to the adult’s correct pronunciation of “fish”? What does this suggest about the ability of a child to imitate adult speech?

Cruttenden Research point: Cruttenden (1974) found that adults were more accurate in predicting football results from listening to the scores, finding that adults could successfully predict winners by the intonation placed on the first team. Why did Cruttenden use football scores? Why do you think young children are less able to interpret intonation? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD3DCLTHvmI

‘Phonological acquisition sequence’ Pamela Grunwell’s 1987 Age (Months) Phonemes 24 p, b, m, d, n, w, t 30 K, g, h, 36 F, s, j, l 42 48 plus What is the pattern of types of sounds being produced?

Substituting One Sound for Another Researchers have identified a number of different types of substitutions in toddlers' speech. Toddlers substitute a sound that they have difficulty making with another sound that they can produce. The p, b, t, d, k, and g sounds all develop early. They are known as "stop sounds" because air flowing from the lungs is "stopped" by the front or back of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth or by the lips touching together. In comparison, for f and s which develop later, the tongue must be kept at a certain distance from another spot in the mouth to allow air to flow through. This action requires finer motor control and may be more difficult for toddlers. Stopping occurs when toddlers substitute a stop sound for one where the air should flow through. For example, twenty-four-month-old Max said, "do" for shoe. Stopping occurs most often on the beginning sounds in words. Toddlers may also "stop" nasal sounds as twenty-six-month-old Avery did when she said, "sab" for Sam.

Fronting is another type of substitution Fronting is another type of substitution. It occurs when toddlers substitute a sound produced at the front of the mouth (e.g., t, d, n, s) for a sound produced at the back of the mouth (e.g., k, g, ng) or middle of the mouth (e.g., sh). For example, toddlers may produce "cat" as "tat" and "show" as "sew." Fronting has been identified in 23% of 36-month-old toddlers. Gliding is a substitution occurring when l or r are replaced with w or y. For example, thirty-month-old Avery said, “yick” for lick and “wock” for rock. Gliding may continue into the school years.

Saying the Same Sound in Two Places in a Word Another way that toddlers simplify the words they say is by saying the same sound in place of two different sounds in the same word - assimilation. For example, toddlers commonly produce “doggie” either as “goggie” or “doddie.” Instead of using both a d and a g sound, they use the same consonant twice. Sometimes when words have a sound produced at the back of the mouth (e.g., k, g) at the end of the word, toddlers will also produce a “back” consonant at the beginning of the word. For example, Max, at 27 months, said, “kake” for “take.” He also produced “dark” as “gawk.”

Simplifying consonant clusters Consonant clusters occur when two or three consonants are produced together (e.g., slip). Toddlers make words easier to say by simplifying consonant clusters. Most frequently, they will delete a consonant from a consonant cluster. For example, twenty-six-month-old Max said “poon” for spoon. Toddlers may delete the first consonant (e.g., s in spoon) or the second consonant (e.g., p in spoon) in the consonant cluster. The language that the toddler is learning and each toddler’s preferences will affect which consonant is deleted. Toddlers learning English have some predicable patterns of simplifying consonant clusters.

Choose 2 of these phonological errors and write a PEE paragraph Pip for “ship” “Pligget” for “Piglet” “Shoulder” for “soldier” “ditdit” instead of “sister” “Shite” instead of “fight”(!!!) “rerind” instead of “rewind” “alloon” instead of “balloon” “ambliance” instead of “ambulance” “Hoptical” instead of “hospital” “gagga” instead of grandma “guay” instead of grandpa