Phonetic Structure and Acquisition of Laryngeal and Pharyngeal Articulations: Text-Analysis Considerations [2005, rptd. 2008]

Abstract

This article describes the development of an auditory coding system and an associated web-based XML database to document and analyze speech development in infants from Canada, Morocco, France, and China. The XML database will allow researchers on this international research project, based at the Department of Linguistics, University of Victoria, to collaborate in data collection and analysis, facilitating a better understanding of phonetic development in infants from diverse language backgrounds. We hypothesize that infants from all language backgrounds employ laryngeal constriction as the primary means of phonetic development in the first months of life, using this experience as a base to learn the sounds of their native language in the second half of the first year. Preliminary results from English-speaking infants support this hypothesis.