Substitution patterns in the
phonology of Spanish-speaking
children
(B.A. Goldstein, 2005)
Presented by Vanessa Tobar
Previous Studies
• Mostly with American English-speaking
children
• Phonemes with the highest frequency of
substitution: /θ/, /ð/, /ɹ/, /tʃ/ and /dʒ/
• Few substitutes used for each target.
(Bassi, 1993; Larkins, 1983; Smit, 1993)
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Consonant Cluster Patterns in English
(Smit, 1993)
• /kl/[k]
• /s/-cluster reduction to second member*
• /pl/[pw]
• /pl/[pəl]
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Cross-Linguistic phenomenons?
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Participants
• Typically developing children (3;2-4;11)
• Children with phonological disorders (3;1-4;9)
• L1 Puerto Rican dialect Spanish
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Assessment of Phonological
Disabilities
• APD (Iglesias & Goldstein, 1993)
• Single word phonological assessment
 CVCV
 Clusters
 Multi-syllabic words
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Things to note…
• Clusters and singletons analyzed separately.
• Dialectal features not errors
 /kaɾta/[kalta] (“letter”)
• Voiced stops fricative (inter-vocalically)
 /b/, /d/, /g/  [β], [ð], [ɣ]
• Syllable initial and final data combined for
this study.
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Results:
Sounds Substituted for
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Typically Developing Children
Substituted Phonemes:
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Children with Phonological Disorders
Substituted Phonemes:
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Results:
Sounds Substituted To
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Typically Developing Children
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Children with Phonological Disorders
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Children with Phonological Disorders
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Typically Developing Children
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Results:
Clusters
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Overall
• Typically
Developing
Children:
[ð], [β], /r/, /ɾ/,
and [ɣ]
• Children with
Phonological
Disorders:
/s/, /r/, /tʃ/, /k/,
and [β]
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Questions
1. Would the same results yeild if children
tested were bilingual in a language in which
the voiced fricatives and stops actually had
phonemic contrast?
2. Would methods have to be altered when
studying a dialect that does not weaken or
delete syllable final consonants? (/s/ &/n/)
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10
Questions
3. Is there a characteristic within language
types/groups that allow studies like this to be
more generalized and widely applicable?
Presented by Vanessa Tobar 11/29/10