Hostname: page-component-7f64f4797f-kg7gq Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2025-11-04T16:08:15.025Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Phonological constraints on the emergence of two-word utterances*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Mavis Donahue
Mavis Donahue
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Chicago
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Considerable interest has been generated concerning linguistic and cognitive factors influencing the onset of early combinatorial speech. The present diary study provides evidence that, for some children, the transition between the single-word and two-word stages may be governed by phonological constraints. The presence of a phonological selection strategy and consonant harmony rule in one child's developing phonological system is described. Evidence is presented suggesting that this consonant harmony constraint operated across morpheme boundaries. This had the effect not only of delaying the onset of two-word utterances, but also of influencing the selection of words that could occur in word combinations. The implications of these findings for explaining individual variation in the transition from single-word to combinatorial speech are discussed.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , June 1986 , pp. 209 - 218
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Bloom, L. (1973). One word at a time. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Braine, M. (1976). Children's first word combinations. MonogSocResChDev 41. No. 164.Google Scholar
Branigan, G. (1979). Some reasons why successive single word utterances are not. JChLang 6. 411–21.Google Scholar
Cruttenden, A. (1978). Assimilation in child language and elsewhere. JChLang 5. 373–8.Google Scholar
de Villiers, P. & de Villiers, J. (1978). Simplifying phonological processes in the one- and two-word stage. Paper presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development.Google Scholar
Dore, J. (1975). Holophrases, speech acts and language universals. JChLang 2. 21–40.Google Scholar
Dore, J., Franklin, M., Miller, R. & Ramer, A. (1976). Transitional phenomena in early language acquisition. JChLang 3. 13–28.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. (1979). Phonology as an individual access system: some data from language acquisition. In Fillmore, C., Kempler, D. & Wang, W. (eds), Individual differences in language ability and language behavior. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. & Farwell, C. (1975). Words and sounds in early language acquisition. Lg 51. 419–39.Google Scholar
Garman, M. (1981). Early grammatical development. In Fletcher, P. & Garman, M. (eds), Language acquisition. Cambridge: C.U.P.Google Scholar
Ingram, D. (1976). Phonological disability in children. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Kiparsky, P. & Menn, L. (1977). On the acquisition of phonology. In MacNamara, J. (ed.), Language learning and thought. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Menn, L. (1971). Phonotactic rules in beginning speech. Lingua 26. 225–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menn, L. (1974). A theoretical framework for child phonology. Paper presented at the Annual Summer Meeting,Linguistics Society of America.Google Scholar
Menn, L. (1983). Development of articulatory, phonetic and phonological capabilities. In Butterworth, B. (ed.), Language production, Vol. 2. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Menyuk, P. & Menn, L. (1981). Early strategies for the perception and production of words and sounds. In Fletcher, P. & Garman, M. (eds), Language acquisition. Cambridge: C.U.P.Google Scholar
Miller, J. (1981). Assessing language production in children. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, K. (1973). Structure and strategy in learning to talk. MonogSocResChDev. 38. No. 149.Google Scholar
Nelson, L. & Kamhi, A. (1984). Syntactic, semantic and phonological trade-offs in preschool children's utterances. Paper presented at the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association Annual Convention,San Francisco.Google Scholar
Ramer, A. (1976). Syntactic styles in emerging language. JChLang 3, 49–62.Google Scholar
Rodgon, M. (1976). Single-word usage, cognitive development and the beginnings of combinatorial speech. Cambridge: C.U.P.Google Scholar
Scollon, R. (1976). Conversations with a one-year-old: a case study of the developmental foundation of syntax. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, R. & Leonard, L. (1982). Do children pick and choose? An examination of phonological selection and avoidance in early lexical acquisition. JChLang 9. 310–36.Google ScholarPubMed
Stoel-Gammon, C. & Cooper, J. (1984). Patterns of early lexical and phonological development. JChLang 11. 247–71.Google Scholar
Vihman, M. (1978). Consonant harmony: its scope and function in child language. In Greenberg, J. H. (ed.), Universals of human language. Phonology. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Waterson, N. (1978). Growth of complexity in phonological development. In Waterson, N. & Snow, C. (eds), The development of communication. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar