LINGUIST List 20.720
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Sat Mar 07 2009
Diss: Lang Acq/Phonetics: Oh: 'Articulatory Characteristics of ...'
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1. Sunyoung
Oh,
Articulatory Characteristics of English /l/ in Speech Development
Message 1: Articulatory Characteristics of English /l/ in Speech Development
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Date: 07-Mar-2009
From: Sunyoung Oh <sunyoh cityu.edu.hk>
Subject: Articulatory Characteristics of English /l/ in Speech Development
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Institution: University of British Columbia
Program: Department of Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2005
Author: Sunyoung Oh
Dissertation Title: Articulatory Characteristics of English /l/ in Speech Development
Linguistic Field(s):
Language Acquisition
Phonetics
Subject Language(s): English (eng)
Dissertation Director:
Joseph Stemberger
Janet Werker
Bryan Gick
Dissertation Abstract:
This dissertation investigates articulatory characteristics of English /l/ in child speech. The study is primarily based on experimental data collected using ultrasound imaging techniques from eight English children ages 3;11 to 5;9. Replicating previous articulatory studies of syllable-based allophones of /l/ in adult speech production, the articulatory components of /l/ in child speech production are analyzed for the static information and relative timing between tongue movements. Secondarily, the acoustic analysis of this data and its perception judgments by adults are presented. One of the major findings of this study is that children at these ages produce /l/ using different spatial and temporal coordination than adult speech production, although some children produce /l/ more similar to adult /l/ in terms of articulatory organization. Further, the findings are addressed in relation to speech motor development, and hypotheses are tested to see which motor developmental process(es) (differentiation, integration, refinement) can describe the acquisition of /l/. The ultrasound results of the tongue movements in children's /l/ indicate that all general motor developmental processes are active in these children, and the spatial and temporal coordination of the articulatory gestures of /l/ is rather simplified or modified, and needs to be further refined. I argue that the tendency toward late acquisition of /l/ is due directly to the articulatory complexity of its spatial and temporal characteristics. This work contributes much-needed empirical data of the articulatory characteristics of /l/ to both language acquisition and speech sciences, and constitutes a novel application of ultrasound imaging to child speech research.
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