Volume 24, Fall 2002

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Browsing Volume 24, Fall 2002 by Subject "Distinctive features (Linguistics)"

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    The acquisition of English onsets: the case of Amahl
    (University of Calgary, 2002-09) Hanson, Rebecca
    The acquisition of English onsets by one English-learning child is examined in close detail, with particular focus on the acquisition of /s/ and /s/-clusters. The observation that target /s/ in harmony environments is sensitive to the feature [labial] as opposed to [coronal] and [dorsal] provides support for a feature geometry model in which [labial] versus [lingual] is a possible distinction, e.g. Brown (1997). Further, the unique behavior of target /s/ in the developing phonology motivates the proposal that physiological factors, such as articulatory difficulty, can have consequences in the grammatical system. In particular, it is proposed that a constraint against lingual continuants, which require a precise physical coordination that may not have yet developed, can account for the patterns in the child's acquisition of /s/ clusters. A comparison with the acquisition of /f/, a non-lingual continuant, and that of /l/, another lingual continuant, provides further support for this proposal. The conclusions reached here are consistent with notion of a phonological system grounded in independent, functional principles as argued for in, for example, Goad (1997).
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    Calgary Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 24, Fall 2002
    (University of Calgary, 2002-09) Dobrovolsky, Michael; Edwards, Jodi
    The editors of this volume, Jodi Edwards and Michael Dobrovolsky are pleased to present the twenty-fourth issue of the Calgary Working Papers in Linguistics published by the Department of Linguistics at the University of Calgary. The papers contained in this volume represent works in progress and as such should not be considered in any way final or definitive.