Our work, so far, suggests a universal "Frame Dominance" principle of organization of babbling and early speech; A "Frame" provided by the rhythmic close-open alteration of the mandible is responsible for most of the output patterning. Other articulators - lips, tongue, soft palate - have limited ability to make either intrasyllabic or intersyllabic modifications of this basic mandibular cycle, of the kind that eventually result in a functionally independent component of segmental elements (consonants and vowels). The principle is considered universal, even though presently based primarily on evidence from English-speaking environments, as there is no evidence that vocal patterns include components specifically induced by English input. A combination of phonetic transcription and acoustic analysis will be used to test further predictions of the Frame Dominance concept, and to continue to attempt to relate this articulatory conception of babbling and early speech to patterns of prosodic development, thus gaining a more complete picture of the speech acquisition process. Four main projects are envisioned: 1). The Path Towards Segmental Independence. Tests of the prediction that subsequent development towards words in which consonants and vowels are independently controlled will primarily involve local modifications of the strong contextual constraints of the frame dominance stage, will be made using additional audiotapes already available from and infants. 2) . The University of Frame Dominance. The prediction that tahe frame dominance pattern in late babbling and early speech will be little affected by the ambient language environment will be tested by analysis of an already existing transcription data base from 5 speakers in each of 4 language envi nments- American English, French, Swedish and Japanese. 3). Frame Dominance in Impaired Acquisition. Expectations that infants with delayed development and hearing impairment will be even more dependent on the basic frame dominance pattern than normal infants, and that infants with visual impairment will show a normal frame dominance pattern will be evaluated. Results may have implications for diagnosis and intervention. 4). Frames and Prosody: Seqmental-Suprasegmental Relationships. Acoustically verified patterns of prosodic development in the infants in the 4 language groups (e.g. stress and pitch accent) will be studied in relation to their articulatory organization.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter