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Part of
Sonic Signatures: Studies dedicated to John Harris
Edited by Geoff Lindsey and Andrew Nevins
[Language Faculty and Beyond 14] 2017
► pp. 189–200

The beginning of the word

Child language data

| Bangor University

In this study, we use child language data in order to test the phonological status of the beginning of the word. Working within a strict CV framework, we predict an association between mastery of obstruent clusters word-initially and accurate repetition of non-native consonant clusters in the same position. Using a non-word repetition task, we examine the production of native and non-native consonant clusters in twenty Greek-speaking children aged 4–5 years. Results support our hypothesis and the strict CV view of the beginning of the word.

Keywords: consonant clusters, Greek, phonological acquisition, strict CV, non-word repetition, child language, phonological structure
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Method
    • 2.1Task
    • 2.2Participants
    • 2.3Materials
    • 2.4Procedure
    • 2.5Data transcription and coding
  • 3.Results
  • 4.Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 30 November 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lfab.14.c11
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