Abstract

Coarticulation is the kinematic and spectral overlap between adjacent sounds during speech production. Coarticulation patterns in typical adults have been well established; however, the manner in which coarticulation is developed in children is still unclear. Research has provided conflicting views, showing that children exhibit more, less, or an equal degree of coarticulation when compared to adult speakers. Considering the divergent findings present in the literature regarding coarticulation in children, the purpose of the present study is to further investigate anticipatory coarticulation in typically developing young children between the ages of three and six years. This study focuses on the acoustic characteristics of an unstressed vowel, the schwa, prior to a series of real words. Results indicate that children exhibit adult-like patterns of coarticulation even at a relatively young age. However, the degree of anticipatory coarticulation is dependent upon the phonemic context, with greater differences being evident in a fricative context and less when followed by a stop consonant.

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Communication Disorders

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/