Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T11:40:49.170Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Similarity of babbling in Spanish- and English-learning babies*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

D. K. Oller  and
R. E. Eilers
D. K. Oller
Affiliation:
University of Miami
R. E. Eilers
Affiliation:
University of Miami
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Infants from a variety of linguistic backgrounds have been reported to babble similarly. The present study considers this possibility in detail, offering a concrete characterization of how babbling of Spanish- and English-learning babies is similar. Babbling of a group of Spanish- and another of English-learning infants (12 months of age) was recorded and transcribed by two experimenters, one a primarily Spanish speaker and one a primarily English speaker. Results show that in spite of gross phonetic differences between the adult phonologies of Spanish and English, babies from both groups produce predominantly CV syllables with voiceless, unaspirated plosive consonants. Vowel production is also perceived as notably alike. In the light of such similarities, possible differences in babbling of the two groups may be hard for even sophisticated listeners to notice.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , October 1982 , pp. 565 - 577
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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

[*]

Address for correspondence: D. K. Oller, Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami, P.O. Box 016820, D-820, Miami, FL 33101.

References

REFERENCES

Albright, R. W. & Albright, J. B. (1956). The phonology of a two-year-old child. Word 12. 382–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, K. B., McWhinney, B. & Stoel, C. (1970). An experiment in the recognition of babbling. PRCLD 1. 71–6.Google Scholar
de Boysson-Bardies, B., Sagart, L. & Bacri, N. (1981). Phonetic analysis of late babbling: a case study of a French child. JChLang 8. 511–24.Google ScholarPubMed
de Boysson-Bardies, B., Sagart, L., Bacri, N. & Poizat, M. (1981). Timing in late babbling. JChLang 8. 525–40.Google ScholarPubMed
Chomsky, N. & Halle, M. (1968). The sound pattern of English. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Cruttenden, A. (1970). A phonetic study of babbling. BJDisCom 5. 110–18.Google ScholarPubMed
Edwards, M. L. (1971). One child's acquisition of English liquids. PRCLD 3. 101–9.Google Scholar
Greenlee, M. (1974). Interacting processes in the child's acquisition of stop-liquid clusters. PRCLD 7. 85–100.Google Scholar
Ingram, D. (1976). Phonological disability in children. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Ingram, D., Christensen, L. & Veach, S. (1980). The acquisition of word-initial fricatives and affricates in English by children between two and six. In Yeni-Komshian, G., Kavanagh, J. & Ferguson, C. (eds), Child phonology: perception and production. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Irwin, O. C. (1947). Infant speech: consonantal sounds according to place of articulation. JSHD 12. 397–401.Google ScholarPubMed
Jakobson, R. (1968). Child language, aphasia, and phonological universals. (Trans. Keiler, A.). The Hague: Mouton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leopold, W. (1947). Speech development of a bilingual child. Vol. II, sound-learning in the first two years. Evanston; Northwestern University Press.Google Scholar
Liberman, A. M., Delattre, P. C., Gerstman, L. J. & Cooper, F. S. (1956). Tempo of frequency change as a cue for distinguishing classes of speech sounds. JExpPsych 52. 127–37.Google ScholarPubMed
Lieberman, P. (1980). On the development of vowel production in young children. In Yeni-Komshian, G., Kavanagh, J. & Ferguson, C. (eds), Child phonology: perception and production. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Menn, L. (1971). Phonotactic rules in beginning speech. Lingua 26. 225–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menyuk, P. (1968). The role of distinctive features in children's acquisition of phonology. JSHR 11. 138–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moskowitz, A. (1970). The two-year-old stage in English phonology. Lg 46. 426–41.Google Scholar
Nakazima, S. A. (1962). A comparative study of the speech developments of Japanese and American English in childhood. Studia Phonologica 2. 27–46.Google Scholar
Oller, D. K. (1976). Infant vocalizations: a linguistic and speech scientific perspective. Miniseminar for the American Speech and Hearing Association, Houston.Google Scholar
Oller, D. K. (1980). The emergence of the sounds of speech in infancy. In Yeni-Komshian, G., Kavanagh, J. & Ferguson, C. (eds), Child phonology: perception and production. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Oller, D. K. & Warren, I. B. (1976). On the nature of the phonological capacity. Lingua 39. 183–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oller, D. K., Wieman, L. A., Doyle, W. & Ross, C. (1975). Infant babbling and speech. JChLang 3. 1–11.Google Scholar
Olney, R. L. & Scholnick, E. K. (1976). Adult judgements of age and linguistic differences in infant vocalization. JChLang 3. 145–56.Google Scholar
Preston, M. & Yeni-Komshian, G. (1967). Studies of development of stop consonants in children. Haskins Laboratories, SR–11.Google Scholar
Shotter, J. (1978). The cultural context of communication studies: theoretical and methodological issues. In Lock, A. (ed.), Action, gesture and symbol: the emergence of language. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Smith, B. & Oiler, D. K. (1981). A comparative study of premeaningful vocalizations produced by normal and Down's syndrome infants. JSHD 46. 46–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, N. V. (1973). The acquisition of phonology: a case study. London: C.U.P.Google Scholar
Tracy, F. (1909). The psychology of childhood. Boston: Heath.Google Scholar
Vanvik, A. (1971). The phonetic-phonemic development of a Norwegian child. Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap, 24. Oslo.Google Scholar