Vihman, Marilyn orcid.org/0000-0001-8912-4840, Ota, Mitsuhiko, Keren-Portnoy, Tamar orcid.org/0000-0002-7258-2404 et al. (2 more authors) (2023) A challenge to whole-word phonology?:A study of Japanese and Mandarin. Language Learning and Development. ISSN 1547-3341
Abstract
Phonological models of early word learning often assume that child forms can be understood as structural mappings from their adult targets. In contrast, the whole-word phonology model (Waterson, 1971, Ferguson & Farwell, 1975, Macken, 1979) suggests that on beginning word production children represent adult targets as holistic units, reflecting not the exact sound sequence but only the most perceptually salient elements or those that align with their own vocal patterns. Here we ask whether the predictions of the whole-word model are supported by data from children learning Japanese or Mandarin, both languages with phonotactic structures differing from any so far investigated from this perspective. The Japanese child word forms are found to include some characteristics suggestive of whole-word representation, but in Mandarin we find little or no such evidence. Instead, some children are found to make idiosyncratic use of whole syllables, substituting them for target syllables that they match in neither onset nor rime. This result, which neither model anticipates, forces reconsideration of a key tenet of the whole-word model — that early word production is based on word-size holistic representations; instead, at least in some languages, the syllable may serve as the basic representational unit for child learners.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Language and Linguistic Science (York) The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Education (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 13 Jan 2023 14:50 |
Last Modified: | 22 Mar 2025 00:11 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/15475441.2022.2149401 |
Status: | Published online |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/15475441.2022.2149401 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:195286 |
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