Phonetic Effects on the Development of Phonological Categories: A Case Study

This talk will address issues in child language phonology from the perspective of Quantal Feature Theory (Stevens 1972; Stevens & Kaiser 2010). This approach to phonological feature incorporates articulatory and acoustic parameters of speech, whose inter-relations account for both variability within discrete categories as well as boundaries between these categories. From a developmental perspective, this approach also predicts that the learner may miss out, at least temporarily, on either of these dimensions. I provide evidence for this prediction through longitudinal data from Inês, a learner of European Portuguese.
Location:
Craigie Hall D 420 (The LRC)
Speaker:
Yvan Rose (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
More information at http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/calendar/phonetic-effects-development-phonological-categories-case-study