Grammatical Conditioning in the Development of Phonological Productions
Kelly Burkinshaw
University of Calgary
Supervised by:
Dr. Yvan Rose
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Introduction
� While children’s babbles gradually evolve from articulatorily-predictable vocalizations into forms which match the statistical properties of the ambient language (MacNeilage & Davis 1990; Kern & Davis 2009; Vihman 1996), production patterns in later words cannot always be captured statistically (Demuth 2007)
Introduction
� Grammatical/phonological perspective: � Sounds are learned categorically; acquisition of a sound is
influenced by factors such as its syllable position, and whether that position is present in the child’s grammar
� Statistical/gradient perspective: � Sounds are learned gradiently; the child will slowly learn how
to reproduce sounds in a way that is more reflective of how they appear in adult speech
� How do we decide which model to use? It depends on what children do – but what children do depends on what they, themselves, understand.
Hypothesis
� Children’s level of understanding of their language’s phonological system may be observable in their speech
� Grammatical/phonological learners will display effects or stages which reflect their understanding of phonology
� Statistical/gradient learners will show gradual improvement in productive abilities
Data
� This work looks at two cases studies of children learning European Portuguese:
� Inês: 0;11.13 to 4;02.17 � Shows clear positional effects
� Joana: 0;11.23 to 4;10.07 � Shows gradual improvement with no positional effects
� Data come from the CHILDES database (Correia, Costa, Freitas, 2010), and are analyzed with Phon
European Portuguese
Consonantal Inventory of Onsets (Mateus & d’Andrade 2000, Cruz-Ferreira 1999)
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular
Plosive p b t d k ɡ Nasal m n ɲ Fricative f v s z ʃ ʒ ʁ Lateral l ʎ Flap ɾ Glide w j
European Portuguese
Consonantal Inventory of Codas
(Mateus & d’Andrade 2000, Cruz-Ferreira 1999)
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular
Plosive
Nasal
Fricative ʃ (ʒ) Lateral ɫ Flap ɾ Glide
European Portuguese
� Word-final codas in EP are susceptible to two kinds of resyllabification (Mateus & d’Andrade 2000): � Utterance-final:
An epenthetic vowel is added after /ɾ/ and /l/ e.g. /ˈmew ˈ+oɾ/ [ˈmew ˈ+oɾɨ]
� Utterance-medial: /ʃ, ɾ, ɫ/ coda will become the onset of a following vowel-initial word
e.g. /ˈmaɫ a/ [ˈma la] When this occurs with /ʃ/, there is POA substitution as well
e.g. /ˈpojʃ ˈɛ/ [ˈpoj ˈzɛ]
Inês – a grammatical/categorical learner
� Evidence of systematic behaviours in Inês’s development: � Systematic stopping of all fricative onsets stopping, but not
codas
� Positional effects within the development of /ʃ/ � Stages of deletion before sweeping changes in production
� See also Rose (2014)
Inês’s Fricative Stopping
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
100
0_11
_13
1_00
_25
1_01
_29
1_03
_06
1_04
_09
1_05
_11
1_06
_11
1_07
_02
1_08
_02
1_09
_18
1_10
_29
2_00
_11
2_01
_10
2_02
_01
2_03
_08
2_04
_18
2_05
_24
2_07
_16
2_08
_22
2_10
_20
2_11
_21
3_00
_15
3_02
_03
3_04
_06
3_05
_28
3_07
_29
3_10
_01
3_11
_12
4_01
_00
4_02
_17
f/v ↔ p/b, t/d
s/z ↔ t/d
ʃ/ʒ ↔ t/d
ʀ ↔ k/ɡ
� Fricative onsets
Inês’s Fricative Stopping
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
100
0_11
_13
1_00
_25
1_01
_29
1_03
_06
1_04
_09
1_05
_11
1_06
_11
1_07
_02
1_08
_02
1_09
_18
1_10
_29
2_00
_11
2_01
_10
2_02
_01
2_03
_08
2_04
_18
2_05
_24
2_07
_16
2_08
_22
2_10
_20
2_11
_21
3_00
_15
3_02
_03
3_04
_06
3_05
_28
3_07
_29
3_10
_01
3_11
_12
4_01
_00
4_02
_17
ʃ ↔ t/d
� Resyllabified coda /ʃ/ (before vowel-initial words)
Inês’s Fricative Stopping
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
100
0_11
_13
1_00
_25
1_01
_29
1_03
_06
1_04
_09
1_05
_11
1_06
_11
1_07
_02
1_08
_02
1_09
_18
1_10
_29
2_00
_11
2_01
_10
2_02
_01
2_03
_08
2_04
_18
2_05
_24
2_07
_16
2_08
_22
2_10
_20
2_11
_21
3_00
_15
3_02
_03
3_04
_06
3_05
_28
3_07
_29
3_10
_01
3_11
_12
4_01
_00
4_02
_17
ʃ/ʒ ↔ t/d
� Non-resyllabified coda /ʃ/
Inês’s Development
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0_11
_13
1_00
_25
1_01
_29
1_03
_06
1_04
_09
1_05
_11
1_06
_11
1_07
_02
1_08
_02
1_09
_18
1_10
_29
2_00
_11
2_01
_10
2_02
_01
2_03
_08
2_04
_18
2_05
_24
2_07
_16
2_08
_22
2_10
_20
2_11
_21
3_00
_15
3_02
_03
3_04
_06
3_05
_28
3_07
_29
3_10
_01
3_11
_12
4_01
_00
4_02
_17
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ʃ/ʒ ʃ/ʒ ↔ s/z
ʃ/ʒ ↔ t/d
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ∅
Other
� /ʃ/ in utterance final codas
Inês’s Development
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0_11
_13
1_00
_25
1_01
_29
1_03
_06
1_04
_09
1_05
_11
1_06
_11
1_07
_02
1_08
_02
1_09
_18
1_10
_29
2_00
_11
2_01
_10
2_02
_01
2_03
_08
2_04
_18
2_05
_24
2_07
_16
2_08
_22
2_10
_20
2_11
_21
3_00
_15
3_02
_03
3_04
_06
3_05
_28
3_07
_29
3_10
_01
3_11
_12
4_01
_00
4_02
_17
ʃ ↔ ʃ/ʒ
ʃ ↔ s/z
ʃ ↔ t/d
Other
� /ʃ/ in utterance medial word final codas (resyllabified)
Inês’s Development
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0_11
_13
1_00
_25
1_01
_29
1_03
_06
1_04
_09
1_05
_11
1_06
_11
1_07
_02
1_08
_02
1_09
_18
1_10
_29
2_00
_11
2_01
_10
2_02
_01
2_03
_08
2_04
_18
2_05
_24
2_07
_16
2_08
_22
2_10
_20
2_11
_21
3_00
_15
3_02
_03
3_04
_06
3_05
_28
3_07
_29
3_10
_01
3_11
_12
4_01
_00
4_02
_17
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ʃ/ʒ ʃ/ʒ ↔ s/z
ʃ/ʒ ↔ t/d
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ∅
Other
� /ʃ/ in … word final codas (non-resyllabified)
Inês’s Development
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
100
0_11
_13
1_00
_25
1_01
_29
1_03
_06
1_04
_09
1_05
_11
1_06
_11
1_07
_02
1_08
_02
1_09
_18
1_10
_29
2_00
_11
2_01
_10
2_02
_01
2_03
_08
2_04
_18
2_05
_24
2_07
_16
2_08
_22
2_10
_20
2_11
_21
3_00
_15
3_02
_03
3_04
_06
3_05
_28
3_07
_29
3_10
_01
3_11
_12
4_01
_00
4_02
_17
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ʃ/ʒ ʃ/ʒ ↔ s/z
ʃ/ʒ ↔ t/d
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ∅
Other
� /ʃ/ in word medial codas
Joana – a statistical/gradient learner
� With respect to the development of /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ in different positions (i.e. within the syllable, word, or utterance), Joana shows no clear positional effects
� She shows no sweeping changes, including no deletion stages which could reflect her awareness of syllable positions she doesn’t understand
Joana’s Development
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1_02
_28
1_04
_06
1_05
_05
1_06
_23
1_08
_04
1_09
_24
1_10
_22
2_00
_09
2_02
_18
2_04
_01
2_06
_23
2_08
_05
2_10
_08
2_11
_02
3_00
_26
3_02
_12
3_03
_23
3_04
_25
3_06
_19
3_08
_00
3_10
_04
3_11
_11
4_00
_13
4_02
_11
4_03
_24
4_04
_29
4_06
_00
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ʃ/ʒ ʃ/ʒ ↔ s/z
ʃ/ʒ ↔ t/d
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ∅
Other
� /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ in onsets
Joana’s Development
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1_02
_28
1_04
_06
1_05
_05
1_06
_23
1_08
_04
1_09
_24
1_10
_22
2_00
_09
2_02
_18
2_04
_01
2_06
_23
2_08
_05
2_10
_08
2_11
_02
3_00
_26
3_02
_12
3_03
_23
3_04
_25
3_06
_19
3_08
_00
3_10
_04
3_11
_11
4_00
_13
4_02
_11
4_03
_24
4_04
_29
4_06
_00
4_07
_07
4_08
_11
4_10
_07
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ʃ/ʒ
ʃ/ʒ ↔ s/z
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ∅
Other
� /ʃ/ in utterance final codas
Joana’s Development
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1_02
_28
1_04
_06
1_05
_05
1_06
_23
1_08
_04
1_09
_24
1_10
_22
2_00
_09
2_02
_18
2_04
_01
2_06
_23
2_08
_05
2_10
_08
2_11
_02
3_00
_26
3_02
_12
3_03
_23
3_04
_25
3_06
_19
3_08
_00
3_10
_04
3_11
_11
4_00
_13
4_02
_11
4_03
_24
4_04
_29
4_06
_00
4_07
_07
4_08
_11
4_10
_07
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ʃ/ʒ
ʃ/ʒ ↔ s/z
Other
� /ʃ/ in utterance medial word final codas (resyllabified)
Joana’s Development
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
1_02
_28
1_04
_06
1_05
_05
1_06
_23
1_08
_04
1_09
_24
1_10
_22
2_00
_09
2_02
_18
2_04
_01
2_06
_23
2_08
_05
2_10
_08
2_11
_02
3_00
_26
3_02
_12
3_03
_23
3_04
_25
3_06
_19
3_08
_00
3_10
_04
3_11
_11
4_00
_13
4_02
_11
4_03
_24
4_04
_29
4_06
_00
4_07
_07
4_08
_11
4_10
_07
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ʃ/ʒ
ʃ/ʒ ↔ s/z
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ∅
Other
� /ʃ/ in … word final codas (non-resyllabified)
Joana’s Development
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
1_02
_28
1_04
_06
1_05
_05
1_06
_23
1_08
_04
1_09
_24
1_10
_22
2_00
_09
2_02
_18
2_04
_01
2_06
_23
2_08
_05
2_10
_08
2_11
_02
3_00
_26
3_02
_12
3_03
_23
3_04
_25
3_06
_19
3_08
_00
3_10
_04
3_11
_11
4_00
_13
4_02
_11
4_03
_24
4_04
_29
4_06
_00
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ʃ/ʒ
ʃ/ʒ ↔ s/z
ʃ/ʒ ↔ ∅
Other
� /ʃ/ in word medial codas
Summary
� Inês was influenced by different prosodic contexts; her data also showed cases where grammatical understanding was preceded by stages of across-the-board deletion. This indicates structural awareness on Inês's part: in the face of structural elements for which she had no analysis, she produced no segment.
Summary
� Joana showed no stages of deletion on an equivalent scale, and no evidence of sweeping changes in production, which indicates a relative lack of awareness of the target conditioning environments: she generally attempted each target sound, irrespective of its structural position.
Conclusion
� Across-the-board segmental issues, with slow improvement, can be attributed to statistical learners (e.g. Joana).
� However, some learners may display stages of development quite clearly in their productions (e.g. Ines), and in these cases it is important to understand where and why those stages occur, as they may be indicators of developments in understanding of a grammatical system.
References Burkinshaw, Kelly. 2014. Segmental and Prosodic Conditioning in the First Language Acquisition of Phonology. Memorial University of Newfoundland M.A. Thesis. Correia, Susana, Teresa da Costa & Maria João Freitas. 2010. Portuguese-CCF. University of Lisbon/ CLUL/PhonBank. Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena. 1999. Portuguese (European). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, 126–130. Demuth, Katherine. 2007. The Role of Frequency in Language Acquisition. In Insa Gülzow & Natalia Gagarina (eds.), Frequency Effects in Language Acquisition, 528–538. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Kern, Sophie & Barbara Davis. 2009. Emergent Complexity in Early Vocal Acquisition: Cross-linguistic Comparisons of Canonical Babbling. In Ioana Chitoran, François Pellegrino & Egidio Marsico (eds.), Approaches to Phonological Complexity, 353–375. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. MacNeilage, Peter F. & Barbara L. Davis. 1990. Acquisition of Speech Production: The Achievement of Segmental Independence. In William J. Hardcastle & Alain Marchal (eds.), Speech Production and Modeling, 55–68. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Mateus, Maria Helena & Ernesto d’Andrade. 2000. The Phonology of Portuguese. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rose, Yvan. 2014. The Emergence of First Language Phonology: Perception, Articulation and Representation. In João Costa, Alexandra Fiéis, Maria João Freitas, Maria Lobo & Ana Lúcia Santos (eds.), New Directions in the Acquisition of Romance Languages: Selected Proceedings of Romance Turn V, 35–61. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Vihman, Marilyn M. 1996. Phonological Development: The Origins of Language in the Child. Oxford: Blackwell.