title: From flexibility to constraint: the contrastive use of lexical tone in early word learning.
abstract: Infants must develop both flexibility and constraint in their interpretation of acceptable word forms. The current experiments examined the development of infants' lexical interpretation of non-native variations in pitch contour. Fourteen-, 17-, and 19-month-olds (Experiments 1 and 2, N = 72) heard labels for two novel objects; labels contained the same syllable produced with distinct pitch contours (Mandarin lexical tones). The youngest infants learned the label-object mappings, but the older groups did not, despite being able to discriminate pitch differences in an object-free task (Experiment 3, N = 14). Results indicate that 14-month-olds remain flexible regarding what sounds make meaningful distinctions between words. By 17-19 months, experience with a nontonal native language constrains infants' interpretation of lexical tone.
authors.affiliation: University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
authors.forename: Jessica F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Hay
authors.forename: Katharine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Graf Estes
authors.forename: Tianlin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jenny R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Saffran
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*