1. Why prioritise marked consonants?
Some research suggests we should target MARKED properties in order to facilitate acquisition of unmarked aspects of the system. Markedness is a concept from the study of the sound systems of all natural languages. A marked feature in a language implies the necessary presence of another feature - hence “implicational relationship”.
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

2. Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen
In markedness theory, in English, fricatives, the voiceless stops that occur in /s/ clusters (the adjuncts), affricates and clusters are ‘marked’.
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

3. Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen
FRICATIVES are marked, implying stops.
VOICED STOPS are marked, implying voiceless stops.
AFFRICATES are marked, implying fricatives.
CLUSTERS are marked, implying singletons.
In intervention
Target fricatives to ‘get’ fricatives and stops.
Target the voiced stops /b/, /d/, /g/ to ‘get’ voiced and voiceless stops.
Target affricates to ‘get’ affricates and fricatives.
Target clusters to ‘get’ clusters and singletons. ‘get’ means to ‘facilitate generalisation to…’
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

4. We can’t look at a consonant and “figure out” whether it is marked.
We simply need to “know” the information.
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

5. Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP)
Can you say these? [] [] [] Can you say these? [] [] []
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

6. Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen
sonority theory
Sonority is the amount of stricture or ‘sound’ in a consonant or vowel.
Steriade (1990) proposed a numerical hierarchy.
Most sonorant vowels = 0 glides = 1 liquids = 2 nasals = 3 voiced fricatives = 4 voiceless fricatives = 5 voiced stops = 6 voiceless stops = 7 Least sonorant
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

7. sonority theory
We “prefer” to articulate words with a rise and fall in sonority; p    
starts with the least sonorous segment, a voiceless stop, /p/
followed by a liquid, //
with a vowel, // or // at the peak,
to the less sonorous nasal, //
finally falling to the least sonorous voiceless stop, //.
Most ‘sound’ or stricture in the middle.
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

8. Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen
This rise - fall tendency is called the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP)
[] and [] are more ‘natural’ for us to say than [] and []
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

9. Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen
All clusters are marked, but are some clusters more marked than others?
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

10. Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen
One approach to classifying two-element clusters in terms of markedness is to rank them according to their sonority difference scores. e.g.,
/kw/ (7 minus 1) sonority difference score of 6
/fl/ (5 minus 2) sonority difference score of 3
/fl/ 3 is more marked than /kw/ 6
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

11. Sonority difference scores
2- element clusters with SMALL sonority differences of 2, 3 or 4, and 3-element clusters, may better promote generalised change to singletons and clusters.
Gierut and co-workers provide evidence and target selection guidelines.
If we work on the more complex, more marked clusters the “others” may emerge without being directly targeted.
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

12. Sonority difference scores
2- element clusters with SMALL sonority differences of 2, 3 or 4, and 3-element clusters, may better promote generalised change to singletons and clusters.
Gierut and co-workers provide evidence and target selection guidelines.
If we work on the more complex, more marked clusters the “others” may emerge without being directly targeted.
And we get singletons without targeting them directly!
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

13. Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

14. Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen
What’s missing?
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen

15. Adjuncts /st/, /sp/and /sk/
Morrisette, Farris & Gierut postulate that initial /s/+ stop ‘clusters’ are adjuncts and not ‘true clusters’, and therefore are not subject to the implicational relationships amongst clusters with respect to sonority, and generalisation.
Meaning, if you target adjuncts you will ‘get’ adjuncts only.
Copyright © 2011 Caroline Bowen