Shanghai Children's Voice Department Acquisition

Over the past decade, tremendous progress has been made towards the development of phonological acquisition in some languages, such as English, Cantonese. However, little is known about the acquisition of phonology by children learning the Shanghai dialect as their first language. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide a preliminary description of phonological error patterns used by 117 Shanghaiese-speaking children, and explore the age of segmental acquisition, the order of acquiring phonological units and phonological processes.Two major approaches, traditional phonology and nonlinear phonology, have been applied to the study. We design a phonological model of the Shanghai dialect based on the above frameworks. On the one hand, there are hierarchically organized levels of phonological tiers: word tier, syllable tier, onset-rime tier, skeletal tier and segmental tier. On the other hand, a model of feature geometry is adopted to describe each segment of the Shanghai phonology. Based on the phonological model of the Shanghai dialect, we analyze three aspects of phonological acquisition: distinctive features, phonological units and word tier.Firstly, at the segmental tier, data reveals that age from 1;6 to 2;6 is the key period of phonological acquisition. According to 90% criterion, the order of segmental acquisition is identified. Data on 75% of the groups are also presented for comparison with other language studies. At the same time, the author obtains a feature geometry of acquisition that describes the developmental process in feature acquisition. Moreover, the author studies the default rules on the development of places of articulation children mastered. Based on the statistic study on children's segmental acquisition, the author defines unmarked features in the Shanghai phonology as well. In addition, according to experimental data, the author concludes a set of practical rules and ranking relevant to segmental acquisition of the Shanghai dialect.Then, we study the acquisition of phonological units. After statistic study and comparison, the author draws the following conclusions: 1) There are great difference between word tier and other tiers. The acquisition order of phonological units is: segment > syllable > onset-rime > CV > word. 2) Children had known the existence of rime unit by 1;6. It is easier for children to acquire the phonological units relevant to vowels than thoserelevant to consonants.Later, assimilation, geminate word and tone sandhi are studied at the word tier. The author analyzes the direction of assimilation and its context, concludes that assimilation of initials is progressive, while that of finals is regressive. The error patterns of geminate word used by children of different ages are described as well. In addition, the approach of phonetic experiment is applied to analyze developmental patterns of tome sandhi. Results indicate that children use two kinds of patterns of tone sandhi during their acquisition, while one kind will disappear after they complete the acquisition of tone sandhi. Based on the above studies, the author summarizes the nature of psychological construction relevant to phonological structure at the word tier, and concludes that a symmetrical pattern is a transitional one from syllable acquisition to word acquisition.Implications of these findings are discussed at the end of the dissertation.