Computational simulation of CV combination preferences in babbling.
There is a tendency for spoken consonant-vowel (CV) syllables, in babbling in particular, to show preferred combinations: labial consonants with central vowels, alveolars with front, and velars with back. This pattern was first described by MacNeilage and Davis, who found the evidence compatible with their "frame-then-content" (F/C) model. F/C postulates that CV syllables in babbling are produced with no control of the tongue (and therefore effectively random tongue positions) but systematic oscillation of the jaw. Articulatory Phonology (AP; Browman & Goldstein) predicts that CV preferences will depend on the degree of synergy of tongue movements for the C and V. We present computational modeling of both accounts using articulatory synthesis. Simulations found better correlations between patterns in babbling and the AP account than with the F/C model. These results indicate that the underlying assumptions of the F/C model are not supported and that the AP account provides a better and account with broader coverage by showing that articulatory synergies influence all CV syllables, not just the most common ones.
Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, USA.
Hosung
H
Nam
Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, USA ; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CT, USA.
Louis M
LM
Goldstein
Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, USA ; DSLO-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Sara
S
Giulivi
Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, USA ; Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA.
Andrea G
AG
Levitt
Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, CT, USA ; City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
D H
DH
Whalen
CASY; CV preference; TADA; articulatory phonology; babbling; computational simulation; frame-content model