title: Fricative acquisition in English- and Icelandic-speaking preschoolers with protracted phonological development.
abstract: Few studies have directly compared fricative development across languages. The current study examined voiceless fricative production in Icelandic- versus English-speaking preschoolers with protracted phonological development (PPD). Expected were: a low fricative match (with age effect), highest match levels for /f/ and non-word-initial fricatives, developmentally early mismatch (error) patterns including deletion, multiple feature category mismatches or stops, and developmentally later patterns affecting only one feature category. Crosslinguistic differences in phonetic inventories were predicted to provide different options for mismatch patterns, e.g. affricates in English, [+spread glottis] segments in Icelandic. For each language, native speakers audio-recorded and transcribed single-word speech samples for thirteen 3-year-olds and ten 4-year-olds. Predictions regarding mismatches were generally confirmed. Accuracy data were partially confirmed, /f/ having a lower match than /s/ overall for the Icelandic children. Other results reflected language or group differences. The data provide confirmation that phonological acquisition reflects crosslinguistic, language-specific and child-specific influences.
authors.affiliation: a School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, University of British Columbia , Vancouver , BC , Canada .
authors.forename: B May
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Bernhardt
authors.forename: Thora
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Másdóttir
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Stemberger
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leonhardt
authors.forename: Gunnar Ó
authors.initials: GÓ
authors.lastname: Hansson
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001184:Articulation Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D002170:Canada; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013070:Speech Therapy
keywords: Laryngeal features; manner features; phonological acquisition; phonological impairment; place features; speech sound disorders