title: Final Syllable Lengthening (FSL) in infant vocalizations.
abstract: Final Syllable Lengthening (FSL) has been extensively examined in infant vocalizations in order to determine whether its basis is biological or learned. Findings suggest there may be a U-shaped developmental trajectory for FSL. The present study sought to verify this pattern and to determine whether vocal maturity and deafness influence FSL. Eight normally hearing infants, aged 0;3 to 1;0, and eight deaf infants, aged 0;8 to 4;0, were examined at three levels of prelinguistic vocal development: precanonical, canonical, and postcanonical. FSL was found at all three levels suggesting a biological basis for this phenomenon. Individual variability was, however, considerable. Reduction in the magnitude of FSL across the three sessions provided some support for a downward trend for FSL in infancy. Findings further indicated that auditory deprivation can significantly affect temporal aspects of infant speech production.
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. snathani@coe.uga.edu
authors.forename: Suneeti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nathani
authors.forename: D Kimbrough
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Oller
authors.forename: Alan B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Cobo-Lewis
mesh_terms: D003638:Deafness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D013060:Speech