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306A: Special edition

First-languageacquisition

Guest lecturer

1st language acquisition

Do we need to know this?

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Yes

What I mean is, ah, will it beon the exam?

Yes

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StagesPre-natal0 - 2 mo

reflexive, vegetative2 - 5 mo

responsive cooing, laughing4 - 7 mo

babbling6 - 12 mo

reduplicative babbling9 - 18 mo

non-reduplicative babbling18 - 72 mo

all hell breaks loose

Pre-natal to 7 mo (roughly)

Pre-natalnative languagediscrimination

0 - 5 momigration from expressive(indexical) noises tocommunicative noises tovocal play

4 - 7 moa wide range of noisesnarrows down towardcommunity speech sounds(phones).

6 to 12 mo (roughly) Reduplicative babbling

mama, gaga, babaphonological practice,

rather thancommunication

increased control overarticulators

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9 to 18 mo (roughly) Non-reduplicative babbling

“expressive jargon”intonation and stress patterns

of language“sounds like Language X”

(X = Swedish, Hindi,Basque, …), but justmore sophisticated practicing

overlaps with word developmentand the beginnings of clearcommunicative intent

bij hQpij hQpij hQpij hQpij...

g!kij g!kij g!kij g!kij g!kij ...

Ajno Ajno Ajno Ajno Ajno...

Phoneme acquisition

BabblingThe cardinal stops p b m t d n k gThe cardinal vowels i ! uOther sounds s z h w jRare and/or late f v T D S Z tS dZ l r N

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Consonant progression

stops < fricatives < glides < liquids < affricates

Consonant cluster aversion

Droppingfricativesliquidsnasals

when they cluster with stops

Consonant cluster aversion

Droppingfricatives [stAp] ! [tAp]liquids [trAjt] ! [tAj]nasals [kAjt] ! [tAjt]

when they cluster with stops

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Substitutions

stopx ! stopy [kAjt] ! [tAjt]fricativex ! fricativey [fIS] ! [fIs]

sonorants ! vowels [wejl] ! [wej!]fricatives ! stops [sij] ! [tij]

liquids ! glides [lAjt] ! [wAjt]nasals ! stops [t!N] ! [t!g]

14mo +

Proto-words andwords commingle

“Noun”-heavyThe dedication and

joy of acquisition

Proto-words (Galen, 15 mo)

Said in joyous appreciation offavoured objects and totems[doi˘j]yay!

Said in appreciation of food[n!mn!m]tasty!

Parent-humouring noise[?o]oh?

Said of toilets and sneezes[wus]whoosh

Said when food needed cooling[fff]blow

usagesoundmeaning

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Proto-words (Oriana, 16 mo)

Said to urgeon parents[?!?!?!]Getyourassingear

air kiss[nnntj!]“smack”

Said whenaccepting[mmm]affirmative

Said whendeclining[nej] [now] [nowej]negatives

usagesoundmeaning

Is that right?

!wu !m wAp! wAp!

mm hmm

Pardon me?

dudawa dej !t! dudijdij

dudawa dej !t! dudijdij

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Words (Galen, 15 mo)

accompany/subsoundword

[lAjn]lionNon-totemic

[wej!]whale

A trilled, lateral-tongue-against-cheekflapping noise that actually sounded a bit

like a duck[dQt]duck

[E?E?E?][m!ntij]monkey

[bA?A?A?][lQm]lamb

[mu˘w][kAw]cow

[mrAuw][tQt]cat

Words (Galen, 15-17 mo)chair, man, truck, hat, horn, vegetables, night-time,baby, medicine,shampoo, belt, watch, mail, sleep,button, train, pizza, fan, light, bath, diaper, hospital,paper, submarine, …

Mostly “nouns”, some “verbs”, two “prepositions”, afew “adjectives”, some “greetings”.

Words (Oriana, 16 mo)

contextssoundward

said in greeting[hAj!]hiya

said mostly of food and drink, but also ofactivities (being carried), sometimes

before she has had any[mow!]more

when hurt, tickled, inconvenienced in anyway[Aw]ow

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Conversing with Oriana (14 mo)

Oriana: bApA! bApA!IR: Yes, Oriana?

Oriana: wu baktijn matsa mow!IR: Juice?

Oriana: gij (affirmative intonation, nod)

Conversing with Oriana (16 mo)

Oriana: bApA! bApA!IR: Yes, Oriana?

Oriana: hQmij wu tA wuIR: Juice?

Oriana: wu (affirmative intonation, nod)

(27 mo)

PAPAPAPAPAPA! WHAT did you BRING!? You brought GROCERIES!You brought CANS OF SOUP! (picking them out of the bag and running

off with them; he has no particular fondness for soup; it was justsomething to shout about). (Returning) And you brought GARBAGE

BAGS! GREEN ONES! These are BIG GREEN GARBAGE BAGS! AndLIGHTBULBS!

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Suprasegmental phonology (Galen)

He’s b-a-a-A-A-A-a-a-d, papa. That beetle’s b-a-a-A-A-A-a-a-a-d! (23 mo)

I want to go outs-i-i-i-i-I-I-I-I-i-i-i-i-de! (22 - 25 mo)I want Strawbe-e-e-e-E-E-E-E-e-e-e-e-ries! (24

mo)No-o-o-O-O-O-o-o-o! (a lot, c20 - 26 mo)DeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeedeetABLE!

(22 mo)L-l-l-l-et’s go outside! (24 mo)

General vocal behaviours (Galen)noises, hoots, and squealswide range of voices (slow, fast, creaky,

redrum, Louis-Armstrongish plaint)demented chanting (deedeedeedee …

deedeedeetABLE)special pronuciations (Bhhhr-e-e-a-a-duh,

t.a.b.le.s.a.n.d.ch.ai.r.s)(walks: groucho, flying nun, stiff-legged side-

step, and wiggle-butt)

Re-babbling (Galen, 19 - 21 mo)

baby-bAby, baby-bAby, baby-bAby, baby-bAby ... (coming from the chorus of a songhis mother also reduplicated endlessly)woodsy, woodsy, woodsy, woodsy, ...(repeating the name of a toy squirrel)dzuaaha, dzuaaha, dzuaaha, dzuaaha, ...budgia, budgia, budgia, budgia … (I thinkthey just sounded good)dibbadibbadibba —What’s Galen saying? (19mo)

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Syntax (Galen)Hellooo Papa! Hellooo cat! Hellooo pitzy truck! (c17 mo; said to everybody

and everything, with devout conviction that an answer would come back)More X! (More books! More banana! More sticks! ...; c17 mo)Want some juice now, for Galen. (19 mo)Go! Go! Go! (c18 mo; said while running full tilt in no specific direction)Let’s go! (c18 mo; said just before running full titlt in no specific direction)Run! Run! Run! (c18 mo; see “Go! Go! Go!”)I’ll take it! (c19 mo, of anything which took his fancy)Must take it! (c20 mo; this one often had a noun in place of the pronoun, as in

“Must take tractor!”)Go this way! (Let’s go this way!;18 - 22 mo; said, usually in the car but

sometimes when being carried, while pointing in any direction you’re notgoing)

Maybe X! (Maybe sit down! Maybe read a book! Maybe sit down right here!;19 mo)

Galen’s First passiveconstituent-question

G: What are they doing there? (He had seen some potatochips in a store)

IR: Waiting to be bought and eaten, I guess.G: What are they going to be eaten for ... with ... what are

they going to be eaten for ... by ... Who are they going tobe eaten by? (27 mo)

I’m a bit sore today.

I don’t want you to be sore. I wantyou to be clean. I want you to be

clean in your diaphragm.

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You’ve got a freckle.

What’s a freckle called?

It’s called a “freckle”.

No. What are freckles called?

Maybe means “no”!I know it means “yes or no” but it really means “no”.I know what it really means, but … Just forget about it!It means no!

[To a stuffed pig:] You miss your parents? That’s OK. Ihave a memory of them. They were pink. Just a minute,I have a memory of them. [Goes off and returns with along pink snake.] Here it is. It’s a memory of your momand dad.

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This is an other-nose, and this is an other-nose.(pointing, 28 mo)

Peat

Peats [s]

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Wug

Wugs [z]

Bleege

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Bleeges [´z]

Morphology (Galen)Those are ambulances , Papa: ambulancES! (21 mo)

I’m digestING my penne, mommy. DigestING. (28mo)

WolFS, papa, wolFS. Not wolVES, wolFS (28 mo)I’m up-pleased (c 27-29 mo)

I need a ball to tennis (26 mo; upon picking up atennis racket)

What’s it for tanking? (27 mo; of a tanker truck)

I get it! One octopi is an octopus, but two octopussesis an octopi!

Morphology (Oriana)…need to keep our hands undry. (38 mo)

It was still unwet (38 mo)

[on finding a newspaper in our driveway]Somebody slobbed us!

Galen’s the most unlistener!

Well, Linda and Auntie Dolly are bestest mommies inthe world. But you’re the most bester mommy in theworld, mommy!

Sameday

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Lexical innovation (Oriana)That will feel me better! (also, That will feel me up)

Fish! Dragon! I’ll call it a ‘funny-fish dragon’. Is that agood deal?

Oriana: ‘Na’ means I’m going to be your sisteragain. Okay? Okay, Galen?

Galen: Whatever.

Oriana: ….. Na! …. Na! …. Na! Na, Galen!

Well, papa. I don’t wantyou to do no morejokeness. You did

jokeness. Why did you dothat? That jokeness.

Lookit!That’s a school, a school

of fish.

Which one’s theteacher?

Mmm-hmm

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… Thumbelina’s warmnesssaved the swallow. …

… Her warmth revivedthe swallow. …

Philosophy of language

Hello cat. I’m fine. I’m fine. You’re fine. (Oriana, 19 mo)Don’t be noisy, wind! I’m talking, wind! Don’t be noisy! That’s rude!

Don’t be rude, wind! (Galen, 27 mo)Don’t blow! Wind! Don’t blow! (Oriana, 32 mo)No! Don’t say that! Don’t say it, Papa! (Oriana, 26 mo)I’m pretending you didn’t tell me that. You pretend too, Papa! (Galen,

28 mo)

G: I want some salt, please, Mommie.M: Just a minute, Darlo.G: Some salt please, Mommie.M: … no response ...G: Some of that white stuff there. (Galen, 27 mo)

StagesPre-natal0 - 2 mo

reflexive, vegetative2 - 5 mo

responsive cooing, laughing4 - 7 mo

babbling6 - 12 mo

reduplicative babbling9 - 18 mo

non-reduplicative babbling18 - 72 mo

all hell breaks loose

Phoneme acquisition

Syntactic acquisition

Lexical acquisitionMorphological acquisition

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L1 Acquisition

StagesPrenatal learning - syntactic acquisition

PhonologyCardinal consonants & vowelsConsonant progressionSubstitutions

Lexical acquisitionResponsive cooing - “noun” gathering

Kids’ philosophy of languagePower and omnipresence of language