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Sources of Variation in First Language Acquisition: Languages, contexts, and learners
Edited by Maya Hickmann †, Edy Veneziano and Harriet Jisa
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 22] 2018
► pp. 27–44

Chapter 1
Templates in child language

 | Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York
 | Laboratoire Structures Formelles du Langage, Université Paris 8 & CNRS
To what extent do developmental templates, or idiosyncratic child word patterns, reflect (i) universal tendencies of neurophysiologically grounded production, (ii) perceptually-based guidance due to the frequency of occurrence in input speech or to the rhythmic patterning of the adult language, or (iii) formal principles of phonological structure? We will argue here that all of these elements play a role in the emergence of these child structures, which constitute the first evidence of phonology in the child. We focus on the first-word period and provide evidence of both cross-linguistic commonalities and typological differences, which reflect the structure of the ambient language as perceived and filtered by the child. We then focus in on the role of template formation in individual children.
Keywords: acquisition of L1, development, phonology, templates, speech rhythm, infant perception
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.Templates
    • 1.1Definition
  • 2.Evidence
    • 2.1Universality of templates
    • 2.2Common characteristics
      • 2.2.1Maximum length
      • 2.2.2Harmony
      • 2.2.3Melody
      • 2.2.4Clusters
    • 2.3Ambient language effects
      • 2.3.1VC(:)V (no specified melody or harmony)
      • 2.3.2VCV, with vowel melody or harmony
      • 2.3.3CVCVC
  • 3.The template as a response to challenges
    • 3.1Mechanisms or functions
    • 3.2Representational challenge: The problem of linearity
  • 4.Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 22 February 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.22.02vih
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