The early acquisition of segment specification : the evolution of the child's phonological system, in particular the development of the articulatory and categorial gesture, with reference to English and Dutch
This thesis is concerned with early phonological development and segmental representation, on the basis of spontaneous longitudinal data. In part I, the assumptions underlying the research here are formulated on the basis of a brief discussion of existing literature regarding the child's innate endowment to acquire language, early cognitive development, the origin and character of pre-phonological structure, the nature of an appropriate perception/production model and the role of phonological processes in the acquisition process. Also, main topics in the acquisition literature relevant to phonology are evaluated, such as word patterns, consonant harmony and reduplication. Early phonological acquisition is considered to be a cognitive process, constructivist in nature, with some innate constraints that function as attention-biases. It is assumed that the child has a perception-based representation, constructed on the basis of his own abilities, and that subsequent representational redescription results in his phonological representation. In part II, the data of five Dutch and two English children between 1;0, 10-1;6.4, recorded regularly during the period of a year, constituted the basis for the reconstruction
Heijkoop, Anita C.
The early acquisition of segment specification : the evolution of the child's phonological system, in particular the development of the articulatory and categorial gesture, with reference to English and Dutch. This thesis is concerned with early phonological development and segmental representation, on the basis of spontaneous longitudinal data. In part I, the assumptions underlying the research here are formulated on the basis of a brief discussion of existing literature regarding the child's innate endowment to acquire language, early cognitive development, the origin and character of pre-phonological structure, the nature of an appropriate perception/production model and the role of phonological processes in the acquisition process. Also, main topics in the acquisition literature relevant to phonology are evaluated, such as word patterns, consonant harmony and reduplication. Early phonological acquisition is considered to be a cognitive process, constructivist in nature, with some innate constraints that function as attention-biases. It is assumed that the child has a perception-based representation, constructed on the basis of his own abilities, and that subsequent representational redescription results in his phonological representation. In part II, the data of five Dutch and two English children between 1;0, 10-1;6.4, recorded regularly during the period of a year, constituted the basis for the reconstruction
early acquisition segment specification evolution child_phonological system particular development articulatory categorial gesture reference english dutch concern early phonological_development segmental representation basis spontaneous longitudinal data part assumption underlie basis brief_discussion exist_literature regard child innate endowment acquire_language early cognitive development origin character pre phonological structure nature appropriate perception_production model role phonological process acquisition_process also main_topic acquisition literature relevant phonology evaluate word pattern consonant harmony reduplication early phonological_acquisition consider cognitive_process constructivist nature innate constraint function attention assume child perception based representation construct basis ability subsequent representational phonological_representation part data dutch english child record regularly period year constitute basis reconstruction