The role of phonological context in children’s overt marking of ‘-s’ in two dialects of American English
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Jessica A. Barlow
Abstract
We consider the role of preceding and following phonological context in the variable marking of monosegmental English plural and 3rd-person singular morphemes by African-American English speaking children (Study 1), and by younger children speaking a more mainstream variety of American English (Study 2). Results of both studies show that overt marking was favored in utterance-final contexts and with plurals, consistent with prior research findings. However, preceding consonant contexts favored the overt marking of the morphemes, contrary to prior research findings. We discuss these findings in terms of syllable organization and morphophonological complexity, and offer suggestions for future research to further delineate the specific contributions of phonological context to the overt marking of morphemes in child language.
Abstract
We consider the role of preceding and following phonological context in the variable marking of monosegmental English plural and 3rd-person singular morphemes by African-American English speaking children (Study 1), and by younger children speaking a more mainstream variety of American English (Study 2). Results of both studies show that overt marking was favored in utterance-final contexts and with plurals, consistent with prior research findings. However, preceding consonant contexts favored the overt marking of the morphemes, contrary to prior research findings. We discuss these findings in terms of syllable organization and morphophonological complexity, and offer suggestions for future research to further delineate the specific contributions of phonological context to the overt marking of morphemes in child language.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and tabula gratulatoria vii
- Introduction 1
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Section 1. Representations and contrast
- Prosodic Licensing and the development of phonological and morphological representations 11
- Covert contrast in the acquisition of second language phonology 25
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Section 2. Sources of individual differences in phonological acquisition
- Sibling rivalry 53
- Abstracting phonological generalizations 71
- Rapid phonological coding and working memory dynamics in children with cochlear implants 91
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Section 3. Cross-linguistic approaches to phonological acquisition
- What guides children’s acquisition of #sC clusters? 115
- The role of phonological context in children’s overt marking of ‘-s’ in two dialects of American English 133
- German settlement varieties in Kansas 155
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Section 4. Theoretical advances in the field
- The role of onsets in primary and secondary stress patterns 175
- A faithfulness conspiracy 199
- Superadditivity and limitations on syllable complexity in Bambara words 223
- Author index 249
- Subject index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and tabula gratulatoria vii
- Introduction 1
-
Section 1. Representations and contrast
- Prosodic Licensing and the development of phonological and morphological representations 11
- Covert contrast in the acquisition of second language phonology 25
-
Section 2. Sources of individual differences in phonological acquisition
- Sibling rivalry 53
- Abstracting phonological generalizations 71
- Rapid phonological coding and working memory dynamics in children with cochlear implants 91
-
Section 3. Cross-linguistic approaches to phonological acquisition
- What guides children’s acquisition of #sC clusters? 115
- The role of phonological context in children’s overt marking of ‘-s’ in two dialects of American English 133
- German settlement varieties in Kansas 155
-
Section 4. Theoretical advances in the field
- The role of onsets in primary and secondary stress patterns 175
- A faithfulness conspiracy 199
- Superadditivity and limitations on syllable complexity in Bambara words 223
- Author index 249
- Subject index 253
