Phonemic development
Exemplar theory/view
/t/
/d/
attractor
Categorical perception
Continuous perception
Categorical perception
Categorical perception
[p]
[b]
[b]
[d]
Liberman 1957
Categorical perception
Like adult speakers of English, English infants
perceive the gradual transition from [b] to [t]
categorically.
Eimas et al. 1971
Categorical perception
Categorical perception is a unique human
capacity and restricted to language.
Eimas et al. 1971
Categorical perception
• Categorical perception also occurs in other
species.
• Categorical perception is not restricted to speech.
• Categorical perception is not characteristic of all
speech sounds.
Phonetic assimilation
• Context-free strategies
• Context-bound strategies
Phonetic assimilation
[d{s]
[bEd]
[sek]
[h{n]
[da]
glass
bread
snake
hand
star
Reduction of
consonant cluster
Phonetic assimilation
[b{n]
van
[d{t]
that
[nEr]
there
[d{k]
Jack
[d{b]
jam
[dEk]
check
Word-initial fricatives
are replaced by stops
Phonetic assimilation
[bOt]
pot
[do]
toe
[dI]
kiss
Voicing of wordinitial stops
Phonetic assimilation
[dat]
duck
[det]
gate
[zus]
shoes
[m{ts]
match
[t{b@dz] cabbage
Fronting of
consonants
Phonetic assimilation
[nOp]
knob
[b{t]
bad
[dOt]
dog
[duf]
stove
Devoicing of final
obstruents
Phonetic assimilation
[böt]
[gög]
[gök]
[gIg]
[gOg]
[dOt]
[gök]
[gIk]
but
big
book
pig
dog
dot
duck
stick
Harmonization of
initial consonants (if
the word ends in a
velar consonant)
Motherese
• Exaggerated stress patterns, exaggerated intonation
• Many repetitions
• Many vocatives/attention getters
• Many questions
• Simple sentences and simple grammatical constructions
• Basic vocabulary
Fatherese
• Question-answer
• Request-response
• Focus of attention response
Early words
Pragmatic development
Language is an instrument. Language us used to …
• express anger
• ask a question
• promise someone to do something
• warn somebody
Pragmatic development
Language is learned in social interactions involving
three important components:
• speaker
• hearer
• things and events talked about
Pragmatic development
Bühler 1934 Organon Model
Pragmatic development
dyadic interactions
Pragmatic development
9-months revolution
Tomasello 1999
Triadic interactions
Vocabulary development
1;2 – 1;3
First words
2;0
100-600 words
9-10 words a day
6;0
14,000 words
18;0
50,000 words
Vocabulary development
vocabulary development
Vocabulary development
What leads to the vocabulary spurt?
Vocabulary development
What leads to the vocabulary spurt?
Vocabulary development
• The vocabulary spurt begins when children
recognize the symbolic nature of language (i.e.
when they recognize that everything has a name.
• The vocabulary development is trigged by
advanced articulatory skills.
Vocabulary development
1;0
1;1
1;2
1;3
1;4
1;5
1;6
daddy, mommy
bye
dog, hi, uh oh
baby, ball, no
eye, nose, banana, juice, shoe, kitty, bird, duck,
car, book, balloon, bottle, night-night, woof, moo,
ouch, baa baa, yum yum
apple, cheese, ear, cracker, keys, bath, peekaboo,
vroom, up, down, that
grandpa, grandma, sock, hat, cat, fish, truck, boat,
thank you, cup, spoon, back
Vocabulary development
• Words referring to people
daddy, mommy, baby
• Words referring to animals
dog, kitty, bird, duck
• Words referring to body parts
eye, nose, ear
• Words referring to food
banana, juice, apple, cheese
• Words referring to toys
ball, balloon, book
• Words referring to cloths
shoe, sock, hat
• Words referring to vehicles
car, truck, boat
• Words referring to household objects bottle, keys, bath, spoon
• Words denoting routines
bye, hi, uh oh, night-night, no
• Words denoting activities
up, down, back
• Sound imitating words
woof, moo, ouch, baa baa, yum
• Deictics
that
Vocabulary development
Children’s early words function as speech acts
(i.e. there is no functional distinction between
words and utterances.
Vocabulary development
What do children need to understand in order to
learn words?
They need to understand the symbolic nature of
language.
Vocabulary development
What do children need to understand in order to
learn words?
Vocabulary development
see
1. I saw Peter.
2. I see what you mean.
run
1. She is running down the stairs.
2. She ran into Peter.
car
1. vehicle
2. toy
have
1. She has a dog.
2. I have finished my work.
Vocabulary development
head of a
department
head of a nail
header
body part
head of a team
flower head
to head
Vocabulary development
ball
balloon
orange
moon
ball
Partitioning of the conceptual space
Vocabulary development
doggy
dog
Vocabulary development
Word
First referent
overextensions
dog
dog
mooi
moon
ticktock
watch
baw
ball
mum
fly
horse
fly
fm
worm
wau-wau
sound of train
sch (Germ)
dog
cat, horse, rabbit, lion, tiger, all four-legged
animals
cakes, round marks on window, round
shapes in books, round postmarks, letter O
clock, gas meter, fire hose on spool, bath
scale with round dial
apples, grapes, eggs, squash, bell clapper,
anything round
cow, calf, pig, moose, all 4-legged animals
specks of dirt, dust, all small insects,
child’s own toes, crumbs of bread, toad
flies, ants, all small insects, heads of
timothy grass
all animals, toy dog, soft house, slippers,
picture of old man in furs
all moving machines
Vocabulary development
Why do children overgeneralize word meanings?
• Hypothesis 1: Children are not yet able to
distinguish dogs from other animals.
• Hypothesis 2: Children’s restricted vocabulary
forces them to overgeneralize words.