Effects Of Coarticulation And Syllable Structure On The Articulation Of Initial Consonants By Pre-school Mandarin-speaking Children

The phenomenon of inconsistent articulation performance is common in the process of initial consonants acquisition by preschool children,that is,the same initial consonant will be different in different phonetic contexts.However,there are few domestic studies on this phenomenon,especially lacking of research on preschool children who are in the critical period of the development of the articulation.For a Mandarin syllable,the phonetic contexts of an initial consonant refers to the finals that follows,which mainly includes the coarticulation between the initial consonant and the first vowel,as well as the syllable structure.This study starts from these two aspects,selecting 231 children as research subjects who aged from 2;6 to 6;0 from five kindergartens in three districts of Shanghai,to explore the acquisition age,difficulty difference and misarticulation performance of the same initials combination with different finals by preschool mandarin-speaking children.The purpose of this study is to further understand the rules of preschool children's phonological acquisition,with a view to providing reference standards for the rehabilitation of articulation and the basis for selecting training words for special children.The specific research content and results are as follows:1.The preparation of initial consonants articulation test material?1?Based on the following four principles:different first vowel followed by initial consonants,same syllable structure,selecting high-frequency words,easy to match pictures,we prepare the test materials about the effects of coarticulation on the articulation of initial consonants,which is a total of 75 words.?2?Based on the following five principles:same first vowel followed by initial consonants,different syllable structures,removing posterior nasal finals,selecting high-frequency words,easy to match pictures,we prepare the test materials about the effects of syllable structure on the articulation of initial consonants,which is a total of 80 words.2.Effect of coarticulation on the articulation of initial consonants by pre-school mandarin-speaking children.?1?For the age of acquisition,according to 90%correct rate as an acquired age,the initials[p],[p^h],[m],[t?]and[t?^h]are all acquired at 2;6-3;0.[?]is acquired at3;1-3;6.[k],[k^h]are acquired at 4;1-4;6.The articulation of[?]is not acquired until5;6-6;0.In addition to the above initial consonants,the acquisition ages of the other initial consonants are different under various coarticulation conditions.?2?In the difficulty of articulation,the influence of coarticulation and age on the correct rate of initial consonants is examined through a two-factor mixed experimental design of n?the number of vowels followed by each initial consonant?*7?seven age groups?.It is found that,except for the initial consonant[t],the interaction effect of the subsequent vowel*age of other initials is not significant;For[f],[t],[t^h],[n],[l],[x],[t?],[t?^h],[?],[ts],[ts^h],[s],the main effects of subsequent vowel are significant,other initials are not significant.For[f],[t],[t^h],[n],[l],[t?^h],[t?],[t?^h],[?],[?],[ts],[ts^h]and[s],the main effects of age are significant,other initials are not significant.Conclusion:In addition to the initial consonant[t],the influence of subsequent vowel and age on other initial consonants is independent;As the age increases,the correct rate of the initial consonants in each syllable basically increases.The coarticulation between initial consonant and subsequent vowel has a significant effect on the articulation difficulty of[f],[t],[t^h],[n],[l],[x],[t?],[t?^h],[?],[ts],[ts^h],[s],no significant influence on other initials.?3?In the performance of misarticulation,when the same initial is combined with different subsequent vowels,the misarticulation is inconsistent:?1?Bilateral consonants are most easily replaced by apico-alveolar consonants when they combined with[i],and are easily replaced by apico-alveolar or velar when combined with[u],[p^h]is also easily replaced by[p]in various combinations of initials and subsequent vowels.?2?Labiodental is easily replaced by[x]in all combinations.?3?Apico-alveolar consonants[t],[t^h]are most easily replaced by lingual-palatal consonants when they combined with[i];when combined with[?],[u],they are easily replaced by velar or apico-palatal.?4?Apico-alveolar consonant[n]is easily replaced by[l]in all combinations,and it is easy to omit when combined with[i];Apico-alveolar consonant[l]is easily replaced by[n],[j],[?],etc.when combined with[A],[?],[u],is the most likely to occur omissions when combined with[y],[i],next is easily replaced by[n].?5?when velar consonants[k],[k^h]and[A],[?]combination,easy to be replaced by apico-alveolar,and when combined with[u]easy to be replaced by bilateral or apico-alveolar;velar consonant h and[A]combination is not easy to error;and[?]combination easy replaced by[k],[k^h];when combined with[u],it is most easily replaced by labiodental.?6?When lingual-palatal consonants[t?],[t?^h]are combined with[i],it is easily replaced by apico-alveolar or other lingual-palatal.[?]is easily replaced by[t?]and[t?^h]in all combinations.?7?Apico-palatal[t?],[t?^h],[?]are easily replaced by apico-dental in each combination;[t?],[t?^h]combined with[A],[?],[u]are also easily replaced by apico-alveolar[t],[t^h],and when combined with[?]is also easy to be replaced by lingual-palatal[t?],[t?^h];[?]and[A],[?]combination is also easy to be replaced by lingual-palatal[?],and combined with[u]is also easy to be replaced by labiodental[f];[r]is most easily replaced by[l]when combined with[?]and[u],when combined with[?],it is easily replaced by[z]or an omission occurs.?8?Apico-dental[ts],[ts^h]are most easily replaced by apico-alveolar[t],[t^h]when combined with[A],they are most easily replaced by lingual-palatal[t?],[t?^h]when combined with[?],they are most likely to be replaced by apico-palatal[t?],[t?^h]when combined with[?],[u];[s]is most easily replaced by lingual-palatal[?]when combined with a and[?],are most easily replaced by[?]when combined with[?],[u].3.Effect of syllable structure on the articulation of initial consonants by pre-school mandarin-speaking children?1?For the age of acquisition,except for[p],[p^h],[m],[t^h],[k],[k^h],[t?],[?],and[s]in every syllable structure has the same age of acquisition,the other initial consonants have different ages of acquisition in different syllable structures,but the difference is not big.?2?In the difficulty of articulation,the influence of syllable structure and age on the correct rate of initial consonants is examined through a two-factor mixed experimental design of 4?syllable structure:CV,CVV,CVVV,CVVN?*7?seven age groups?.It is found that the interaction effect of the syllable structure*age was not significant in all initials.While,there is no significant difference in the proportion correct of other initial consonants in various syllable structures.The main effects of the syllable structure of the initials[n],[x],[t?],[t?^h],[?],[?]are significant,other initials are not significant;For[t],[t^h],[n],[l],[t?],[t?^h],[x],[t?],[t?^h],[?],[?],[ts],[ts^h]and[s],the main effects of age are significant,other initials are not significant.Conclusion:The effect of syllable structure and age on all initial consonants is independent;As the age increases,the correct rate of the initial consonants in each syllable structure basically increases.The syllable structure has a significant effect on the articulation difficulty of[n],[x],[t?],[t?^h],[?],[?],no significant influence on other initials.?3?In the performance of misarticulation,when the first vowel of the final vowels is the same,the misarticulation of initial consonants are the same in different syllable structures.In the syllable structure with[i]as the first vowel,bilabial consonants are most easily replaced by apico-alveolar;Apico-alveolar[t],[t^h]are most easily replaced by[t?],[t?^h];[n]is most easily replaced by[l];Apico-alveolar[l]is most likely to be missed;lingual-palatal consonants[t?],[t?^h]are easily replaced by apico-alveolar[t],[t^h]or other lingual-palatal;[?]is easily replaced by[t?]and[t?^h].In the syllable structure with[u]as the first vowel,velar consonants[k],[k^h]are easy to be replaced by the bilabial[p],[p^h]or apico-alveolar[t],[t^h];[x]is the most easily replaced by the labiodental[f].Apico-palatal[t?],[t?^h],[?]are most easily replaced by apico-dental.Apico-palatal r is most easily replaced by[l];Apico-dental[ts],[ts^h]and[s]are most easily replaced by[t?],[t?^h],[?].