Speech and Language Development

Prosodic Features/Suprasegmentals

• Stress and intonation are prosodic features
• Prelinguistic stage spans from birth to 12 months
• Meaninfgul speech begins around 12-18 months

What is Speech?

• Speech is a system relating meaning to sound
• Primary and initial modality for language acquisition
• Language is an arbitrary system of signs with rules within a linguistic community
• Phonemes are minimal sound units distinguishing language

Morpheme Errors

• A child may not correctly pluralize words ("s")
• Syntax is the ordering of words in a sentence
• Semantics refers to word meaning

Organs/Subsystems of Speech Production

• Respiratory system (lungs, airway, ribcage, diaphragm) provides airflow for speech
• Diaphragm is the chief muscle for inhalation
• Phonatory system (larynx/"voice box") includes cartilage and muscles

Types of Phonetics

• Phonetics studies speech sounds, production, and acoustic properties
• Experimental techniques aim to study speech sounds and their production
• Articulatory/physiological phonetics focuses on how speakers produce sounds
• Acoustic phonetics analyzes sound waves traveling from speaker to listener
• Perceptual phonetics explores how listeners perceive sounds
• Applied phonetics applies knowledge to real-world scenarios

Consonants

• Place: Location of airflow constriction (e.g., alveolar, palatal, bilabial)
• Manner: Degree of closure (e.g., stop, fricative, nasal)
• Voicing: Vibration of vocal folds (voiced/voiceless)

Vowels

• Distinctive features determine vowel characteristics based on articulation
• Coarticulation refers to the influence of one sound on another in connected speech

Phonological Patterns

• Phonological patterns are systematic sound changes affecting sound classes or sequences, aiming for simpler production
• Syllabic structures include the deletion of unstressed syllables/words
• Reduplication is repeating a syllable
• Epenthesis is adding an unstressed vowel between consonants
• Diminutization adds a suffix
• Coalescence merges two successive sounds
• Consonant deletion eliminates consonant sounds
• Cluster reduction simplifies consonant clusters
• Substitution involves replacing sounds with others

Assimilation

• Assimilation describes the influence of sounds on each other in connected speech
• There are anticipatory and retentive types

Articulation vs Phonology

• Articulation refers to observable motor components of speech production
• Phonology is a broader, more abstract concept encompassing rules governing sound patterns in language

Suprasegmentals (Prosodic Features)

• Stress is the emphasis on a syllable, word or utterance
• Intonation is the variation of pitch in speech conveying emotional state.
• Loudness is a measure of intensity in speech, influenced by emotional state
• Pitch level reflects the high/low tone of speech, impacting emotional expression
• Juncture refers to vocal pauses or intonational differences, representing vocal punctuation

General Stages of Phonological Development

• Development involves prelinguistic stages, first words and phonemic stages, and finally stabilization stages (with emphasis on complete phonemic inventory before age 8-years-old). These stages continue progressing.

Explore the fundamentals of speech and language development, including prosodic features, morpheme errors, and the organs involved in speech production. This quiz covers essential concepts from the prelinguistic stage to the types of phonetics, providing insights into the intricacies of communication.