The Phonology of Children's Early Words: Trends, Individual Variation, and Parents' Accommodation in Child-Directed Speech

The mental lexicon is dynamic and changes throughout the lifespan, but how does it begin? Previous research has established that children's first words depend on their communicative needs, but also on their phonetic repertoire and phonological preferences. In this paper, we focus on the phonological characteristics of children's first words, primarily looking at word-initial labials and word length in Norwegian children's first words, as well as at how parents accommodate to child patterns in their speech. Comparing the Norwegian child data with data from children speaking five different languages, we examine how the child's emergent lexicon is on the one hand shaped by the input of the ambient language, but on the other hand limited by more common phonological characteristics of child speech. Based on data from parental reports (CDI), we compared the 50 first words in Norwegian to those in Danish, Swedish, English, and Italian, analyzing two phonological aspects: word initial bilabials and word length in syllables. We found that Norwegian-speaking children follow the children speaking these other languages in having an affinity for word initial bilabials, but that the proportions of mono-, di-, and polysyllables vary depending on the language acquired. Comparisons of the Norwegian child data with samples of adult directed speech (ADS) and child-directed speech (CDS) revealed more word-initial bilabials and shorter words among children than among adults. The CDS was more similar to children's speech than ADS concerning the two phonological aspects dealt with here, which suggests that parents accommodate to children in phonologically detailed ways

Vocalic Intrusions in Consonant Clusters in Child-Directed vs. Adult-Directed Speech.

In this paper, we investigate a prosodic-phonetic feature in child-directed speech within a dynamic, complex, interactive theoretical framework. We focus on vocalic intrusions, commonly occurring in Norwegian word initial consonant clusters. We analysed child-directed speech from nine Norwegian-speaking mothers to their children, aged 2;6, 4, and 6 years, and compared the incidence and duration of vocalic intrusions in initial consonant clusters in these data with those in adult-directed speech and child speech. When viewed overall, vocalic intrusion was found to be similar in incidence in child- and adult-directed speech. However, closer examination revealed differential behaviour in child-directed speech for certain conditions. Firstly, a difference emerged for one particular phonetic context: While vocalic intrusions in /Cr/ clusters are frequent in adult-directed speech, their presence is near-categorical in child-directed speech. Secondly, we found that the duration of vocalic intrusions was longer in child- than in adult-directed speech, but only when directed to 2;6-year-olds. We argue that vocalic intrusions in child-directed speech may have both a bonding as well as a didactic function, and that these may vary according to the age of the child being addressed

Cross-linguistic variation in word-initial cluster production in adult and child language: evidence from English and Norwegian.

Young children simplify word initial consonant clusters by omitting or substituting one (or both) of the elements. Vocalic insertion, coalescence and metathesis are said to be used more seldom (McLeod, van Doorn & Reed, 2001). Data from Norwegian children, however, have shown vocalic insertion to be more frequently used (Simonsen, 1990; Simonsen, Garmann & Kristoffersen, 2019). To investigate the extent to which children use this strategy to differing degrees depending on the ambient language, we analysed word initial cluster production acoustically in nine Norwegian and nine English speaking children aged 2;6-6 years, and eight adults, four from each language. The results showed that Norwegian-speaking children produce significantly more instances of vocalic insertions than English-speaking children do. The same pattern is found in Norwegian- versus English-speaking adults. We argue that this cross-linguistic difference is an example of the influence of prosodic-phonetic biases in language-specific developmental paths in the acquisition of speech.British Academy Small Research Grant SG122210 ‘The acquisition of consonant timing: a study in cross-linguistic micro-variation’, MultiLing, A Centre of Excellence funded by the Research Council of Norway (project number 223265), and from the Faculty of Education and International Studies at Oslo Metropolitan University

Acquisition of the majority language in Norwegian ECEC: Relating language-learning environment in ECEC to expressive vocabulary

Developing proficiency in the language(s) spoken in any given society is crucial for the inclusion and attainment of children in that society. With an enrolment rate in Norwegian early childhood education and care (ECEC) of 93.4% for children between age one and five, ECEC constitutes an important out-of-home learning environment for children in Norway. In this study, we examine how the quality of language-learning environments in toddler and preschool groups predicts children’s expressive vocabulary in the majority language depending on children’s home languages. Data from the quality rating scales ITERS R and ECERS-R were used to model quality factors related to expressive vocabulary in toddler and preschool groups. The sample included 1,078 children (876 children with parents who spoke the majority language exclusively, 104 children with one parent who spoke the majority language and one parent who spoke another language, and 57 children with no majority language speaking parents). The results show that the quality of the language-learning environment in toddler and preschool groups is positively associated with expressive vocabulary in the majority language at age three and five, but only for children whose parents spoke the majority language exclusively.publishedVersio

The Quantity Shift : A Cognitive Usage-Based Analysis of the Quantity Shift in East Norwegian

Kvantitetsomleggingen er en norsk språkendring som pågikk mellom gammelnorsk og moderne norsk, ca. 1350–1550. Jeg analyserer kvantitetsomleggingen som en analogisk endring der den store gruppen av ord med lang aksentuert stavelse har blitt så produktiv at alle gammelnorske ord med kort eller overlang aksentuert stavelse har fått lang aksentuert stavelse i moderne norsk. Analysen viser at språk endrer seg gjennom språkbruk, for eksempel gjennom hvordan språkbrukerne kategoriserer og omkategoriserer ord i språkminnet. Det viser seg også at kvantitetsomleggingen er en gradvis endring som treffer noen ord før andre. Analyser av nordgudbrandsdalsk, som ennå ikke har gjennomgått noen full kvantitetsomlegging, viser at korte enstavelsesord endrer seg før tostavelsesord som kalles jamvektsord. Jamvektsord har en særegen synkronisering av tonelagsmelodien, som gjør at de ligner både på ord med lang og ord med kort aksentuert stavelse. Så lenge jamvektsord blir kategorisert sammen med ord med lang aksentuert stavelse, trenger de ikke å endre seg som følge av kvantitetsomleggingen. Jeg har også funnet ut at preteritumsformer av sterke verb med [A], f.eks. bar (av bera (inf.), ‘bære’), ikke forlenger vokalen til tross for at det er vanlig i andre lignende ord, f.eks. dag (m.). Dette skyldes antagelig at kort [A] i preteritum er morfologisert, dvs. at disse preteritumsformene er assosiert med hverandre, men ikke med andre ord med kort [A]. Gammelnorske ord med lang aksentuert stavelse kan også endres som følge av kvantitetsomleggingen, f.eks. karl > kar ([1kA˘R], m.). Alle disse ordene har gjennomgått konsonantendringer, f.eks. bortfall, som i seg selv ville ført til ord med kort aksentuert stavelse. Når vokalen forlenges i disse ordene, får de lang aksentuert stavelse, som er det vanlige utfallet av kvantitetsomleggingen

Toddlers and their translingual practicing homes

The number of multilingual families in Norway has increased during the last decades, but there are no official statistics concerning the linguistic situation in Norway today. Immigrants account for 15% of the population. In addition, there are mixed-language families where one of the parents does not have Norwegian as his/her mother tongue. Most toddlers in Norway attend ECEC programmes from the age of one, which influences the language situation in their families. In communities’ communication and linguistic practice, participants use a broad linguistic repertoire; in translingual practice, code-shifts and linguistic hybridity are natural elements in communication. Previous research has discussed this mainly with reference to youth communities; there is little information available about the linguistic environment of the youngest children in domestic settings. In this article, we present three toddlers from multilingual families in their domestic linguistic environments. Analysis of data obtained from parentally administered video recordings of everyday family situations provides information about language use in those environments. We discuss varieties of translingual practice and how they are a natural part of everyday interaction between toddlers, parents, and siblings. Parental attitudes to language practice influence how the children use language, and we note three different patterns in the families’ translingual practice

Phonological patterns (templates) in 5p deletion syndrome

Whole word phonological patterns (templates) in utterances produced by children with 5p deletion syndrome are analysed, addressing four questions: (1) Are children with 5p deletion syndrome able to generalise over words? (2) How does the template score of children with 5p deletion syndrome relate to those of typically developing children and of the target language? (3) How do the template scores relate to other phonological measures, PCC and consonant variegation? (4) What can the relationship between template scores and phonological measures tell us about templates? Children with 5p deletion syndrome are able to generalise over words, some to a target like extent, others generalise more than expected for their age. The template scores relate to other phonological measures, with two exceptions. The exceptions indicate that the template score of a child with articulatory difficulties may reflect more detailed representations of the words in memory than she is able to express

Consonant clusters in the speech of children with 5p deletion syndrome

Due to motor problems and intellectual impairment, individuals with 5p deletion syndrome experience speech and language problems to varying degrees. This paper examines a corpus of spoken words and larger expressions uttered by eight children aged between four and twelve years with this syndrome, aiming to find out how they produce word initial consonant clusters in the target language. Most of the children used the same strategies as younger, typically developing Norwegian speaking children to render the target clusters: omission, substitution and vowel intrusion. The most common strategy was omission, followed by substitution and vowel intrusion. In addition, some children also used preposed vowels and metathesis, and a few showed more idiosyncratic patterns, indicative of specific phonological problems