Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:27:08.313Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Phonetic development in early infancy: a study of four Swedish children during the first eighteen months of life*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

L. Roug ,
I. Landberg  and
L.-J. Lundberg
L. Roug*
Affiliation:
University of Stockholm
I. Landberg*
Affiliation:
University of Stockholm
L.-J. Lundberg
Affiliation:
University of Stockholm
*
Department of Linguistics, University of Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Linguistics, University of Stockholm, Sweden.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The present paper presents data on the phonetic development of four normal Swedish infants, who were audiorecorded bi-weekly in their homes from 0;1 to 1;5. Our results show five distinct stages in the development of early vocalizations: the glottal stage, the velar/uvular stage, the vocalic stage, the reduplicated consonant babbling stage and the variegated consonant babbling stage. The results are based on auditory analysis of selected parts of the material. A comparison is made of this developmental pattern with studies of infants raised in other linguistic communities. The results of this comparison support the claim that babbling follows a universal developmental pattern.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , February 1989 , pp. 19 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

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.)

Footnotes

*

The authors are greatly indebted to Björn Lindblom, Marilyn M. Vihman and Olle Engstrand for helpful comments on the manuscript. We thank the parents and the infants who participated in this project for their patience and enthusiasm, without which this project would never have been possible. We would also like to thank our associates, Professor Rolf Zetterström, Docent Birgitta Jailing, Doctor Göran Aurelius and Doctor Ann-Sofie Ericsson at Sankt Göran's Children's Hospital, for fruitful collaboration. This research project has been sponsored by Förstamajblommans Riksförbund (First of May Flower Annual Campaign for Children's Health).

References

REFERENCES

Bickley, C. (1983). Acoustic evidence for phonological development of vowels in young children. Speech Communication Group Working Papers, Research Laboratory of Electronics, M.I.T. 4. 111–24.Google Scholar
Bickley, C., Lindblom, B. & Roug, L. (1986). Acoustic measures of rhythm in infants' babbling. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress on Acoustics, Toronto.Google Scholar
Buhr, R. D. (1980). The emergence of vowels in an infant. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 23. 73–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bullowa, M. (1979). Before Speech. Cambridge: C.U.P.Google Scholar
Cruttenden, A. (1970). A phonetic study of babbling. British Journal of Disorders of Communication 5. 110–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foster, R. E., Connors, B. W. & Waxman, S. G. (1982). Rat optic nerve: electrophysiological, pharmacological and anatomical studies during development. Developmental Brain Research 3. 371–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jakobson, R. (1941, 1968). Child language, aphasia and phonological universals. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Kent, R. D. & Bauer, H. R. (1985). Vocalizations of one-year-olds. Journal of Child Language 12. 491–526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kent, R. D. & Murray, A. D. (1982). Acoustic features of infant vocalic utterances at 3, 6 and 9 months. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America 72. 353–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koopmans van Beinum, F. J. & van der Stell, J. M. (1986). Early stages in the development of speech movements. In Lindblom, B. & Zetterström, R. (eds), Precursors of early speech. New York: Stockton Press.Google Scholar
Lecours, A. R. (1975). Myelogenetic correlates of the development of speech and language. In Lenneberg, E. H. & Lenneberg, E. (eds), Foundation of language development: a multidisciplinary approach. Vol. 1. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Lindblom, B. & Zetterström, R. (eds) (1986). Precursors of early speech. New York: Stockton Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Locke, J. L. (1983). Phonological acquisition and change. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
McCune, L. & Vihman, M. M. (1987). Vocal motor schemes. Mimeographed report.Google Scholar
Menn, L. (1978). Pattern, control and contrast in beginning speech: a case study in the development of word form and word function. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston University.Google Scholar
Norberg, L. (1984). Utvecklingsbedömning av de åtta ‘jollerbarnen’. Mimeographed report available from the Department of Paediatrics, Child Surgery and Child Psychiatry, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.Google Scholar
Oller, D. K. (1980). The emergence of the sounds of speech in infancy. In Yeni-Komshian, G. H., Kavanagh, J. F. and Ferguson, C. A. (eds), Child Phonology, Vol. i. Production. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Oller, D. K. (1981). Infant vocalizations: exploration and reflexivity. In Stark, R. (ed.), Language behaviour in infancy and early childhood. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Oller, D. K. (1986). Metaphonology and infant vocalizations. In Lindblom, B. and Zetterström, R. (eds), Precursors of early speech. New York: Stockton Press.Google Scholar
Oller, D. K., Wieman, L. A., Doyle, W. J. & Ross, C. (1976). Infant babbling and speech. Journal of Child Language 3. 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pike, K. L. (1943). Phonetics. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rakic, P., Bourgeois, J. P., Eckenhoff, M. F., Zecevic, N. & Goldman-Rakic, C. S. (1986). Concurrent overproduction of synapses in diverse regions of the primate cerebral cortex. Science 232. 232–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salus, P. H. & Salus, M. W. (1974). Developmental neurophysiology and phonological acquisition order. Language 50. 151–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, R. E. (1980). Stages of speech development in the first year of life. In Yeni-Komshian, G. H., Kavanagh, J. F. & Ferguson, C. A. (eds), Child Phonology. Vol. 1. Production. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Stark, R. E. (ed.) (1981). Language behavior in infancy and early childhood. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
van der Stelt, J. M. & Koopmans van Beinum, F. J. (1986). The onset of babbling related to gross motor development. In Lindblom, B. & Zetterström, R. (eds), Precursors of early speech. New York: Stockton Press.Google Scholar
Thelen, E. (1981). Rhythmical behavior in infancy: an ethological perspective. Developmental Psychology 17. 237–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vihman, M. M. (1986). Individual differences in babbling and early speech: predicting to age three. In Lindblom, B. and Zetterström, R. (eds), Precursors of early speech. New York: Stockton Press.Google Scholar
Vihman, M. M., Macken, M. A., Miller, R., Simmons, H. & Miller, J. (1985). From babbling to speech: a reassessment of the continuity issue. Language 61. 397–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitaker, H. A. (1973). Comments on the innateness of language. In Shuy, R. (ed.), Some New Directions in Linguistics. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Yeni-Komshian, G. H., Kavanagh, J. F. & Ferguson, C. F. (eds) (1980). Child phonology. Vol. 1. Production. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar