Cover not available
Part of
Perspectives on Phonological Theory and Development: In honor of Daniel A. Dinnsen
Edited by Ashley W. Farris-Trimble and Jessica A. Barlow
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 56] 2014
► pp. 115–132

What guides children’s acquisition 
of #sC clusters?

A cross-linguistic account

| Florida International University

This chapter is an overview of the cross-linguistic patterns in the acquisition of two-member s-clusters. Results of several studies on three Germanic languages (English, Dutch, and Norwegian) and three non-Germanic languages (Hebrew, Croatian, and Polish) were evaluated. Productions from typically developing children as well as children with phonological disorders were looked at with respect to cluster reductions and correct productions. While the examination of the former revealed a common behavior among all six languages, the latter point to language-specific effects.

Published online: 29 April 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.56.11yav
References
Barlow, J.A.
2005 Sonority effects in the production of consonant clusters by Spanish-speaking children. In Selected Proceedings of the sixth Conference on the Acquisition of Spanish and Portuguese as a First and Second Language, D. Eddington (ed.), 1–14. Somerville MA: Cascadilla.Google Scholar
2001 A preliminary typology of initial clusters in acquisition. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 15: 9–13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beckman, M. & Edwards, M.L.
1999 Lexical frequency effects on young children’s imitative Productions. In Papers in Laboratory Phonology V, M.B. Broe & J.B. Pierrehumbert (eds), 208–218. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Ben-David, A.
2006 On the acquisition of Hebrew #sC onsets. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders 4: 205–217. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Ben-David, A., Ezrati, R. & Stuhlman, N.
2010 Acquisition of /s/ clusters in Hebrew speaking children with phonological disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 24(3): 210–223. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Berent, I., Lennert, T. & Smolensky, P.
2011 Syllable markedness and misperceptions: It’s a two-way street. In Handbook of Syllable , C.E. Cairns & E. Raimy (eds). Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Broselow, E.
1992 Language transfer and universals in second language epenthesis. In Language Transfer in Language Learning [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 6], S.M. Gass & L. Selinker (eds), 71–86. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Broselow, E. & Xu, Z.
2004 Differential difficulty in the acquisition of second language phonology. International Journal of English Studies 4: 135–163.Google Scholar
Broselow, E., Chen, S. & Wang, C.
1998 The emergence of the unmarked in second language phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 20: 261–280. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Broselow, E. & Finer, D.
1991 Parameter setting in second language phonology and syntax. Second Language Research 7: 35–39. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clements, G.N.
1990 The role of sonority cycle in core syllabification. In Papers in Laboratory Phonology, 1: Between the Grammar and Physics of Speech , J. Kingston & M.E. Beckman (eds), 283–333. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Davis, S.
1990 Italian onset structure and the distribution of il and lo . Linguistics 28: 43–55. DOI logo.Google Scholar
De Lacy, P.
2007 The interaction of tone, sonority, and prosodic structure. In The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology , P. de Lacy (ed.), 281–307. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Fikkert, P.
1994 On the Acquisition of Prosodic Structure. PhD dissertation, University of Leiden.Google Scholar
Gerrits, E.
2010 Acquisition of /s/ clusters in Dutch-speaking children with phonological disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 24(3): 199–209. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Gerrits, E. & Zumach, A.
2006 The acquisition of #sC clusters in Dutch. Journal of Multi- lingual Communication Disorders 4: 218–230. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Giegerich, H.J.
1992  English Phonology . Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gierut, J.
1999 Syllable onsets: Clusters and adjuncts in acquisition. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 42: 708–726. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goad, H. & Rose, Y.
2004 Input elaboration, head faithfulness, and evidence for representation in the acquisition of left-edge clusters in West Germanic. In Constraints in Phonological Acquisition , R. Kager, J. Pater & W. Zonneveld (eds), 109–157. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Gouskova, M.
2004 Falling sonority onsets, loanwords, and syllable contact. Chicago Linguistic Society 37: 175–186.Google Scholar
2001 Relational hierarchies in optimality theory: The case of syllable contact. Phonology 21: 201–250. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Hall, T.A.
1992  Syllable Structure and Syllable Related Processes in German . Tubingen: Niemeyer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harris, J.
1983  Syllable Structure and Stress in Spanish. A Non-linear Analysis . Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hogg, R & M. Cully, C.
1987  Metrical Phonology:A Coursebook . Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Hooper, J.
1976  An Introduction to Natural Generative Phonology . New York NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Karimi, S.
1987 Farsi speakers and the initial consonant clusters in English. In Interlanguage Phonology: The Acquisition of a Second Language Sound System , G. Ioup & S. Weinberger (eds), 305–318. Cambridge MA; Newbury House.Google Scholar
Kenstowicz, M.
1990  Phonology in Generative Grammar . Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Kristoffersen, K. & Simonsen, H.
2006 The acquisition of #sC clusters in Norwegian. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders 4: 231–241. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lovins, J.
1974 Why loan phonology is natural phonology? Papers from the Annual Regional Meeting, Chicago Linguistic Society: Parasession on natural phonology , 240–250.
Mildner, V. & Tomic, D.
2010 Acquisition of /s/-clusters in Croatian-speaking children with phonological disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 24(3): 224–238. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Morelli, F.
1999 The Phonotactics and Phonology of Obstruent Clusters in Optimality Theory. PhD dissertation, University of Maryland.Google Scholar
Ohala, D.
1999 The influence of sonority on children’s cluster reductions. Journal of Communication Disorders 32: 397–421. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Parker, S.
2002 Quantifying the Sonority Hierarchy. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Pater, J.
2004 Bridging the gap between receptive and productive development with minimally violable constraints. In Constraints in Phonological Acquisition , R. Kager, J. Pater & W. Zonneveld (eds), 219–244. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Pater, J. & Barlow, J.A.
2003 Constraint conflict in cluster reduction. Journal of Child Language 30: 487–526. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pinker, S. & Birdsong, D.
1979 Speakers’ sensitivity to rules of frozen word order. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 18: 497–508. DOI logo.Google Scholar
Prince, A. & Smolensky, P.
2004  Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar . Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Romani, C. & Calabrese, A.
1998 Syllabic constraints on the phonological errors of an aphasic patient. Brain and Language 64: 83–121. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Selkirk, E.
1984 On the major class features and syllable theory. In Language Sound Structure: Studies in Phonology Presented to Morris Halle by his Teacher and Students, M. Aranoff & R.T. Oehrle (eds), 107–136. Cambridge MA; The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Smolensky, P.
2006 Optimality theory in phonology, II: Markedness, feature domains, and local constraint conjunction. In The Harmonic Mind: From Neural Computation to Optimality-theoretic Grammar, Vol. 2, P. Smolensky & G. Legendre (eds), 27–160. Cambridge MA; The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Stemberger, J. & Treiman, R.
1986 The internal structure of word-initial consonant clusters. Journal of Memory and Language 25: 163–180. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stenneken, P., Bastiaanse, R., Huber, W & Jacobs, A.
2005 Syllable structure and sonority in language inventory and aphasic neologisms. Brain and Language 95: 280–292. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Steriade, D.
1990  Greek Prosodies and the Nature of Syllabification . New York NY: Garland.Google Scholar
Trommelen, M.
1984  The Syllable in Dutch:With Special Reference to Diminutive Formation . Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Venneman, T
1972 On the theory of syllabic phonology. Linguistische Berichte 18: 1–18.Google Scholar
Yavaş, M.
2013 What explains the reductions in /s/-clusters: Sonority or [continuant]? Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 27(6): 394–403. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 The role of sonority in the acquisition of interlanguage coda clusters. In Achievements and Perspectives in SLA Speech , M. Wrembel, M. Kul & K. Dziubalska-Kolacyk (eds), 297–307. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
2010 Sonority and the acquisition of /s/ clusters in children with phonological disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 24(3): 167–176.Google Scholar
2003 Role of sonority in developing phonologies. Journal of Multilingual Commmunication Disorders 4: 169–181. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yavaş, M. & Marecka, M.
In press. Acquisition of /s/ clusters in Polish: Patterns in typical developments and in children with phonological disorders. International Journal of Speech and Language Pathology .
Yavaş, M. & McLeod, S.
2010 Acquisition of #sC onsets in English-speaking children with phonological disorders. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 24(3): 177–187. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yavaş, M., Ben-David, A., Gerrits, E., Kristoffersen, K. & Simonsen, H.
2008 Sonority and Cross-linguistic acquisition of initial s-clusters. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 22(6): 421–441. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yavaş, M. & Core, C.
2006 Acquisition of #sC clusters in English-speaking children. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders 4(3): 169–181. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yavaş, M. & Someillan, M.
2005 Patterns of acquisition of /s/ clusters. Journal of Multilingual Communication Disorders 3: 50–55. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zamuner, T.S., Gerken, L. & Hammond, M.
2004 Phonotactic probabilities in young children’s speech production. Journal of Child Language 31: 515–536. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Orzechowska, Paula
2019. Phonological Processes in Phonotactics: Evidence from Casual Speech. In Complexity in Polish Phonotactics [Prosody, Phonology and Phonetics, ], ► pp. 217 ff. DOI logo
Parker, Steve
2017. Sounding out Sonority. Language and Linguistics Compass 11:9 DOI logo
Yavaş, Mehmet & Margaret Kehoe
2024. Cross‐linguistic Aspects of System and Structure in Clinical Phonology. In The Handbook of Clinical Linguistics, Second Edition, ► pp. 421 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 20 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.