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Author Smith, N. V. (Neilson Voyne)

Title Acquiring phonology : a cross-generational case-study / Neil Smith.

Publication Info. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xvii, 265 pages) : illustrations.
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Series Cambridge studies in linguistics ; 124
Cambridge studies in linguistics ; 124.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-259) and index.
Contents Preliminaries. Background ; Phonological theory and phonological acquisition ; perception and production ; Competence and performance ; Levels of adequacy ; Levels of representation and the units of representation ; Learnability ; Universals and innateness ; Continuity -- The main claims of Smith (1973) and the evidence for them. Introduction ; The nature of lexical representations ; Realisation rules ; The role of perception -- Competing theories. Rule-based (generative) theories ; Parameter-setting models ; Constraint-based theories, especially Optimality Theory ; Usage-based and connectionist models ; Interim conclusions -- Z and his development. Family background ; Data and their collection ; Analysis ; Stages of development -- The nature of the acquisition of phonology. Conceptual issues arising from the phonological development of A and Z ; Technical issues arising from the phonological development of A and Z ; A smorgasbord? ; Conclusions and speculations -- Diachronic lexicon of Z data. Table of stages and ages ; Table of sessions and ages ; The lexicon ; Z's repertoire of gestures -- Appendices. Z's cluster production ; Adult English initial clusters and their realisation by Z ; Metalinguistic data ; Inventory of Z's judgements of what various words begin with.
Summary "Children often mispronounce words when learning their first language. Is it because they cannot perceive the differences that adults make or is it because they can't produce the sounds involved? Neither hypothesis is sufficient on its own to explain the facts. On the basis of detailed analyses of his son's and grandson's development, Neil Smith explains the everyday miracle of one aspect of first language acquisition. Mispronunciations are now attributed to performance rather than to competence, and he argues at length that children's productions are not mentally represented. The study also highlights the constructs of current linguistic theory, arguing for distinctive features and the notion 'onset', and against some of the claims of Optimality Theory and usage-based accounts. Smith provides an important and engaging update to his previous work, The Acquisition of Phonology, building on ideas previously developed and drawing new conclusions with the aid of fresh data."--Jacket.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Language acquisition -- Longitudinal studies.
Language acquisition.
Genre/Form Longitudinal studies.
Subject Language acquisition -- Age factors -- Longitudinal studies.
Language acquisition -- Age factors.
English language -- Phonology -- Longitudinal studies.
English language -- Phonology.
Psycholinguistics -- Longitudinal studies.
Psycholinguistics.
Genre/Form Electronic books.
Other Form: Print version: Smith, N.V. (Neilson Voyne). Acquiring phonology. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2010 9780521515870 (OCoLC)456838628
ISBN 9780511769955 (electronic book)
0511769954 (electronic book)
9780521515870 (hardback)
0521515874 (hardback)
9780511765490
0511765495
Standard No. 9786612637278