Readers 读者
The aspiration contrast in Cantonese word-initial stops: Data from children and adults
广东话塞音声母送气对立: 儿童及成人的资料
Harold Clumeck; David Barton; Marlys A. Macken; Dorothy A. Huntington
Abstract 摘要
This paper reports a study of children’s acquisition of the aspiration contrast in word-initial stops in Cantonese, as measured by voice onset time (VOT). Adult data are first presented to specify the model which children are gradually approximating, and results are then presented from a longitudinal study of one Cantonese child, from the age of about 1;7 to 2;6, who acquired the contrast during the course of observation, and from four older children, aged 2;6 to 4 years. The subject of the longitudinal study first began producing a statistically significant VOT contrast around the age of 2;2 to 2;3 at the dental point of articulation. By the age of 2;6, the contrast had spread to the labial and velar stops. The four older children were all producing a VOT contrast at all three points of articulation, but the distinction was still not completely adult-like.
Journal of Chinese Linguistics volume 9 (ISSN 0091-3723)
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