An Experimental Study of the Prelinguistic Speech Development of Institutionalized Infants

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FORDHAM UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL

19-50

.

This dissertation prepared under m y direction by Regina Molloy Fisichelli

., , An Experimental Study of the Prelinguistic Speech entitled ....................................................... Development of Institutionalized Infants,

has been accepted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the

Degree of....... Doc tor .of .Philosophy.......................

(Faculty A d viser)

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ProQuest Number: 10993003

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iii

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i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter

Page

LIST OF

TABLES........................................

iv

LIST OF

FIGURES......................

vi

ACKNOWLEDGMENT........................................

L

vii

I.

INTRODUCTION......................................

1

II.

METHOD AND PROCEDURE.............................

21

III.

RESULTS...........................................

31

IV.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS............................

69

V.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS..........................

88

APPENDIX A ................

92

APPENDIX B .............................................

9^

APPENDIX C ............................................

115

BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................

117

j

iv

r

1 T.TST

of

tables

Table

1. 2.

Page Outline of early sounds.................................... Frequency and causes of inadequate test responses according to discrete age groups.........................

1

22

3 . Fumber of subiects in each age grout* according t o sey. A.

L

, .....................

odd-even reliability coefficients for nhoneme ............... ... frequency and nhoneme types by age groups

2k-

29

5-

Total number of vowel s. consonants and diphthongs for each age group together with their means. standard deviations and ranges. . ....................... 32

6.

Differences in mean number of vowels among the various age groups and the t-values found for t h e m........... 3^

7.

Differences in mean number various age urouns and the

8.

Mean number of different vowels (Vt) and different consonants (Ct) for each, age group together with their standard deviations ........................... 37

9.

Differences in mean number of vowel types among the various age groups and the t-valu.es found for them ....................................................... 3&

10.

Differences in mean number of consonant types among the various age groups and the t -va.lu.es obtained for them.............................................. 39

11.

Product-moment coefficients for the correlations obtaining between vowels and consonants according to a g e ......................................................... 40

12.

Means and standard deviations for the ratios of consonants to vowels according to each age group............. ifi

13•

Differences in mean ratios of consonant to vowel frequencies among the various age groups and the t-values found for them........................................k2

of consonants among the t-values found for them ........... 35

-1

r

i LIST OF TABLES (Cont'd) Table

1^.

15.

16 .

17•

18.

19.

20.

Page

Differences in mean ratios of consonant to vowel types among the various age groups and the t-values found for them................................................

45

Mean number of phonemes and Cf./Vf ratios according to sex for each group........................................

5b

t-ratios obtained for the sex differences according to age group.................................................

55

Proportion of vowels and consonants for boys and girls according to a g e .......................................

57

Mean number of sound groupings according to size of unit for each age group................................ Mean number of different sound groupings according to size of unit fob each age group.........................

61

Percentage of intonational patterns according

to age 21.

60

........................................

Means and standard deviations for the different intonational patterns at each age level...................

62

63

22 . t-values for the significant differences found

21.

2b.

among the kO possible comparisons of mean frequency of different intonational patterns at the various age levels......................... .............

Q\.

Product-moment coefficients for the correlations between period of institutionalization (P.I.) and speech indices..........................................

65

Activities associated with increments and decrements in vocalization in each age group.................. 68

25 . Means of the Cf/Vf and the Ct/Vt ratios in Irwin's study and the present

investigation................... 75

vi r

"i

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure

Page 33

1.

Means of vowels and consonants..........................

2.

Changes in consonant-vowel frequency ratios with age....

3.

Changes in consonant-vowel type ratios with a g e ........

^3

k.

Percentages of individual vowels according to place of articulation.................................

^7

5.

Percentages of front, middle and hack vowels hy a g e

^9

6.

Percentages of individual consonants according to place of articulation.................................

50

Percentages of consonants according to place of articulation ....................................

53

Sex differences in vowel and consonant percentages

56

7.

8.

b2

vii

r

Acknowledgment

A study such as the present one depends for its completion upon the unfailing assistance and cooperation of many individuals who are engaged in a wide variety of pursuits. The author wishes to express her gratitude to all those persons who were responsible in any way for the successful completion of this study, and in particu­ lar to Dr. Dorothea McCarthy for her stimulating guidance and direc­ tion, and to D r s . Kubis and Anastasi for their many helpful suggestions in regard to the statistical treatment of the data. The author is also deeply indebted to Dr. Malcolm Coxe of Brooklyn College who graciously undertook the most exacting task of phonetically transcribing the original data in this study. Sister Mary Madeleine of the New York Foundling Hospital and Sister Mary Paula of the Angel Guardian Home in Brooklyn rendered invaluable assistance by generously making available the services of their staff and the facilities of their institutions for the present research. Finally, the author wishes to express her deep appreciation to Mrs. Dorothy Massey who so patiently typed this manuscript, and to Dr. Vincent R. Fisichelli, the author's husband, for his unwavering support and tireless assistance in the execution of this research.

L

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T

AW EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE PRELINGUISTIC SPEECH DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONALIZED INFANTS

L

1 n

r CHAPTER I HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Attempts to investigate experimentally the nature of infant speech development have been carried on for more than a century and a half.

According to Murchison and Langer (76 ) the earliest reported

analysis of infant babblings was that of the German investigator, Tiedemann which appeared in 1787*

Since that time many other reports

concerning the development of articulate language as an outgrowth of infant speech have appeared.

These reports have been presented

in many languages, chiefly in German, French and English.

They

have employed a wide range of different techniques in observation and analysis.

The present review summarizes systematically the

findings of these previous investigations.

For this purpose the

literature is divided into three principal parts according to period of publication:

the literature before 1900, the literature

between 1900 and 19A-0. and the literature from 19^0 to the present.

A.

The Literature before 1900

Prominent among the earliest research in the field of infant speech is the work of Lobisch, cited by Tracy (92) which appeared in 1851 .

In this work Lobisch attempted to ascertain the order of

appearance of the consonant and vowel sounds in a single infant. He concluded from his observations that the earliest vowel sounds in the order of their appearance were a., e , o , u* and y.

Among

the first consonants to appear Lobisch noted the labials m , p, and b, followed later in development by the other consonants. L

^

2 n Taine (90), in reporting on his daughter's language development at irregular intervals from birth to three years noted that shortly after birth

the child cried incessantly, but that by three and one-half

months of age the infant was uttering a variety of vowel sounds.

By

degrees consonants were added to the vowels and exclamations became more and more articulate.

Following the publication of Taine's

observations on his daughter, Darwin (17) reported on a diary he had kept 37 years earlier on his son.

He indicated that during the

first seven days various reflex actions such as sneezing, yawning and screaming occurred.

At five and one-half months the child

uttered an articulate sound da but without meaning. mum for food occurred at 12 months.

The first word

Darwin, interestingly enough,

noted the characteristic intonational patterns utilized by the infant and concluded that before man uses articulate language he utters notes in a true musical scale as do some of the anthropoid ape forms. Another technique utilized before the turn of the century to analyze the nature of speech development in the young child is illustrated in a study by Holden (35) who simply recorded all the words used by two children during the 24th month.

Pollack (82),

following the style of Darwin and Taine, made observations on his daughter's language development between the ages of 12 and 2k months, employing for purposes of transcription the Indian Government system of notation.

Although he made some interesting casual

observations on the linguistic developmental process his report, like those of his predecessors, was rather fragmentary and incomplete in nature.

3

Humphreys (JfO) in 1880,

using a phonetic system of notation

instead of the more widely used orthographic system,

i.e., n for k in

words like known and knife, observed the speech development of a girl between the ages of four months and two years and six weeks. presented a summary of words

He

arranged alphabetically which the child

had acquired by two years of age. Champneys (12), in his notes on a baby’s development from birth to nine months, indicated that the sound of the cry can be expressed by n g a .

He reported that from the ninth month on the child distinctly

imitated the intonation of the voice when any word or sentence was repeated in the same way several times. One of the earliest studies to report on the language develop­ ment of a number of different children at various ages is that of Perez (8l) who, after presenting a summary of the work of earlier investigators, dealt with the problem of the relative influence of heredity, environment and instinct on language development, and then reported such findings as the following: at three months a girl uttered ’’little cries of joy and admiration when she saw flowers or birds, or any brilliant or moving object" (8l, p. 238 ); at 11 months a bov observed by Perez ’’understood the meaning of a great many words"

(81, p. 238 ).

Perez also considered the relation of words

to concepts in children and concluded that children did not discrimi­ nate between objects of a similar class in labeling them, but that this ability was a function of an accumulation of experience. A brief note on the language of children was presented by Sanford (85 ) in 1891 in which various stages of linguistic development

4 ■were outlined: the screaming stage, the babbling stage, the stage of nassive language and the stage of active language. Tracy (92) has summarized in a comprehensive manner the work in the field un to 1891 "by dividing the course of early language develop­ ment into four half-yearly intervals.

The principal developments in

each of these intervals as he reviewed them were:

a . First six months 1. Vowels appear first, then consonants emerge in speech development. Of the vowel sounds^ and its various shadings appear first. 2. The first consonants to appear are the labials**,^ and k • 3 . Wide variability exists between children in the range of sounds mastered during the first six months. b . Second six months 1. Development of the use of sounds with meaning occurs. 2. Combinations of syllables begin. 1. Words can be understood but not produced during this period. c. Third six months 1. Retardation in speech development is freauently noted as th Nice (77)f Oatman (78 ), Pelsma (80) and the Sterns (89 ).

In the

majority of these studies observations were confined to a single case and there was considerable variations in the ages of the children studied.

Thus Bohn's (7) observations started as early

as the ninth week of life and continued to the 28th month.

On

the other hand, worker^ such as the Chamberlains (111 and the Fulls (39 ) recorded the child's sreeeh development only from the time of aryoearan.ce of the first word up to about two years of aye.

Other

studies during this period which, although limited to observations of a. single child, were concerned with the prellnguistic stages of speech development as well as with mere vocabulary progress were those of Brigance (8 ), Dearborn (lOK Drummond (21), Fenton (25)Guillaume (11), Holmes (l6 ), Jesnersen (61 ), Keneyers (62 ), O ’Shea (79) and Shinn (86 ).

In general, these studies indicated that in the

course of prelinguistic development the vowel sounds appear first, and the consonants later.

Thus Brigance (8 ) pointed out that the

acquisition of vowels is a very simple task, while the mastery of consonants is more difficult. appearance of the vowel.

Jesperson (6l) confirmed the early

but pointed out that vowels may first

appear in combination with consonants.

Among the earliest consonants

to appear, a few authors (8 , 6l) mentioned the plosive sounds m , and

with the explanation that these sounds are easiest to produce

since they employ the same muscles as those used in the sucking response.

Brigance (8 ) reported that by 15 months 11 of the 22

initial consonant sounds which appear in English were well established. The Hoyers (38 ) made a detailed study of the development of the speech of their own child.

They noted the emergence of certain

sounds at various age levels, and reported in detail on such related problems as the development of imitative tendencies in speech, the use of characteristic intonational patterns and the responsiveness of the infant to external sound stimuli.

8

r

Unfortunately, in none of the preceding studies was the attempt

n

made to transcribe the child’s utterances by any standardized set of

✓ symbols.

Later the work of Gregoire (32) in 1938 and Lewis (6S') in

1986, although biographical in nature, employed the Internationa 1

Phonetic Alphabet for transcribing the sounds used by the child. Gregoire (12) believed that the sound renertoire

of the young infant

was nhonetica.l ly great and that a given language

evolved by elimination.

of particular sounds.

Lean's (68 ) in analyzing his data made a

di st.inction between sounds uttered in states of comfort and those uttered in states of discomfort and summarized the process of early linguistic development as follows: Table 1 Outline of Earlv Pounds (after Lewis p.2^) Pounds uttered in Discomfort^ Vowels

1. Onset, immediately after b irth.

2. Limited mainly to sounds

Early Consonants

The semi consonant arrears early followed by h,\

Sounds uttered in Comfort 1. Onset: when dis­ comfort sounds hav^ already anpeared. 2. Wider range, much less well-defined in quality The back consonants *
Later Consonants

L

The front consonants, almost exclusively nasal labial m dental fi

The front consonants, both nasal and oral labial nasal m oral ^ ^ dental nasal 0 oral ^

Blanton (5 ), Buhler (10) and Shirley (87 ) in their studies on infant speech attempted to overcome the problem of inadequate sampling which characterized so much of the work during this period.

Blanton

(5 ), studied the behavior of 25 infants during the first 30 days of life and reported that the birth cry was characterized by theiA-or sounds or variations thereof, frequently followed by vowel sounds heard during this period were o, the consonants

>

The

a_.and**-, while

and-H in conjunction with the vowel

were

reported. Buhler (10) described the infant’s vocal development during the first year of life in rather general terms based upon infrequent observations.

She indicated, for example, that at two months of age

sounds of pleasure were noted, and at seven months infants fre­ quently indulged in shouts of joy or cries of satisfaction. The close relationship between the development of speech in the infant and the development of motor capacities was noted by Shirley (87 ) and Brigance (8 ).

Shirley (87 ) pointed out that during the

period in which the child is learning to walk, i.e., about 66 weeks of age, there was a marked decrease in the process of speech development, but that after this time the number of utterances in­ creased rapidly, and far exceeded the language development of the infant during the pre-walking period.

Brigance (8 ) too, noted that

during this period there was a definite decrease in vocabulary development. Another source of information on the process of language de­ velopment is the vocalization items on the infant intelligence tests. These items do not give a picture of the successive stages in the

r develoment of language, but simply serve to indicate the ages at which certain types of vocal responses may be expected, at least in the majority of children from an average American environment. Gesell (29), for example, gives simple vowel combinations as a fourmonth item established for about 75 Per cent of the infants in his study.

He found that less than 20 per cent of six-months-old infants

can say da-da, whereas by nine months of age 75 per cent of infants have acquired this ability. three words.

At 12 months practically all babies say

Linfert and Hierholzer (69 ) found that 25 per cent of

the babies they tested said ma-ma, or da-da by six months of age, 9^ percent by nine months and 91 per cent by 12 months.

Kuhlmann (63 )

gives as a 12-months test repeating such syllables as ba, da-da, the spontaneous frequent combination of two or three syllables, and trying to repeat with some success what is said.

According to

Kuhlmann, at 18 months the child should be able to use some words clearly such as ma-ma, yes andjao. Buhler's (10) scale, which was developed on Viennese infants, included a few language items.

She indicated that the child at six

months of age should attempt to imitate the sound of a drawn out and repeated gutteral utterance spoken by the examiner.

She gave no test

for vocalizations beyond the early cooing ones, and the tests for com­ prehension were placed at rather advanced age levels when compared with the reactions found in American children. Comparable test items on language develonment were included in the intelligence test scale devised by Figurin and Denisova as cited by Dewey (20) for Russian children. In concluding the review of the literature up to 19^-0 mention

"1

should be made of the work of Bean (3), Town. (91) and Leopold (6k, 65 ) who dealt with unique aspects of prelinguistic development.

Bean (3 )

observed and recorded the sneech development of a boy bora blind who gained his sight simultaneously with the development of speech.

He

noted the precedence of vowels in speech development and commented on the tremendous range of sounds in infancy.

A rather detailed study

comparing the language development of groups of idiots and imbeciles constituted Town's (91) contribution to the field of infant speech. Leopold (6k, 65 ) made as his principal object of analysis the speech development of his bilingual daughter.

Later he also stressed (66 )

the need for study of child language and infant bilingualism from a linguistic as well as from a psychological point of view. One of the best analyses in more general terms of the nature of the infant's language development is that of Decroly (l8 ) who analyzed the infant's progress toward meaningful language in terms of three principal stages: the cry. the babble, and the transition from the babble to imitation to expression. Finally, the reviews of the literature by McCarthy (71) and by Dewey (20) present excellent resumes of the experimental research in the field of infant speech up to 1929 &nd 1935 respectively.

C.

The Literature from 19^0 to the Present

Undoubtedly the most significant and systematic advances in the field of infant speech have resulted from the recent studies of Irwin and his co-workers.

These investigators in the course of their

analyses have devised a series of speech developmental indices, and have attempted to relate the speech developmental process with a

number of other variables.

Using the International Phonetic Alphabet

as his system of notation, Irwin's typical methodology follows.

An

infant in his own home was selected as a subject primarily on the basis of age.

The investigator, either Irwin or his co-worker, both

of whom were well trained in the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, stood at the foot of the infant's crib and recorded in this system of notation all of the infant's speech utterances produced on 30 respirations.

For transcription purposes Irwin used Fairbanks (2^)

system of the International Phonetic Alphabet.

This system employs

all the phonetic symbols that are required for broad transcription of American speech.

These utterances were then analyzed according to the

types (different categories of phonemes) and frequency of vowel, consonant and diphthong elements.

Comparisons of these speech

measures between different age groups then formed the basis for an analysis of the developmental process.

Since Irwin and his fellow

authors have published so voluminously in this field, the present review of their principal findings and analyses is in terms of the particular variable of the speech function which was investigated. The studies by Irwin and Curry (60) and by Chen as cited by Irwin and Chen (55) reported on the speech sounds of infants during the first days of life.

Forty infants, twenty boys and twenty girls

served as subjects in the investigation by Irwin and Curry, and the speech sounds analyzed were those uttered in a crying state.

These

investigators reported that during the first 10 days of life the course of development of vowel sounds was characterized by increasing use of back vowels.

In other words, front vowels were

used more frequently than both back and middle vowels, with the

r most frequent front vowel being ^su, the only sound used by all 40 babies.

Consonants, it was noted, were infrequently used by newborn

infants, with the exception of the glottal h which was present during the newborn period. During the second quarter of the first year, Krehbiel as reported by Irwin and Chen (56) observed the increasing use of consonants and middle and back vowels.

She reported that although the newborn infant

repertory of vowel sounds was made up of about seven per cent middle vowels, and zero per cent back vowels, at four months these figures changed to 2 6 per cent and 1 6 per cent respectively.

Front vowels

meanwhile dropped from 97 per cent of the vowel usage of newborn infants to 57 per cent of the vowel usage of four-months-old infants. A basic assumption made in the preceding work which necessitated justification in order to establish the adequacy of subsequent research in this area, concerned the problem of the reliability of transcription of the speech data.

Irwin and Chen (55) noted that

reliability may be of two kinds: a. observer reliability and b. reliability of the data.

In regard to the first of these two

problems, two techniques were suggested as indices of reliability. The first of these indices was referred to as the frequency agreement technique, the second as the breath agreement technique.

In the

frequency agreement technique the percentage of agreement between the transcriptions of two

different observers in terms of the total

number of senarate sneech elements recorded was ascertained.

In the

breath agreement technique agreement between two observers in terms of the pattern of speech elements occurring on a breath or respira­ tion was sought.

Using the speech data obtained on kO newborn

infants these authors reported an average reliability index of 93 per cent using the frequency agreement technique, and 91 per cent agreement using the breath agreement technique.

In regard to the

second kind of reliability, i.e., data reliability, Irwin and Chen (55 ) reported that a comparison of odd-even items on vowel sounds for the group of 40 infants showed agreement for different vowels ranging from

68 per cent to 91 per cent, with an average of 87 per cent.

Other

indices of reliability of infant speech sound data come from the work of Krehbiel as reported by Irwin ( M O who indicated that observer reliability in terms of percentage agreement for infants of four, five and six months of age range from 71 per cent to 100 per cent with an average value of 91 per cent. thesis cited by Irwin

(MO,

Anderson, in an unpublished Masters

reported an average observer reliability

of 63 Tier cent on one sample of infants of . 1 6 , 17 and 18 months of age, and 72 per cent reliability on another sample of the same age group. A note by Irwin (47) on the problem of variability of infant speech showed that a comparative analysis of the variability of 15 nhoneme type distributions indicated a decrease in variability with age, whereas phoneme freauencv variability increased with age. Having established a fairly high degree of observer and data reliability, Irwin and his co-workers then turned their attention to an analysis of the Qualitative and quantitative asnects of the sneech develonment nrocess in infants living in their own homes.

Unfortun­

ately, they saw fit to publish their findings in a series of 24 paners.

Each paper consisted for the most part of only two or

three pages and dealt with individual aspects of the prelinguistic speech development of the same group of infants.

Had these authors

15 r chosen to present their results in a more integrated fashion, the

n

significance of the interrelationships existing between different aspects of the language process would have been much more obvious. Among the many measures which these investigators have used to describe their findings are the following: 1. The speech development profile 2. The type-token ratio 3- Curve of phonemic freauency 4. " 11 " types 5. Vowel and consonant frequency 6. " " ty p e s 7 * Consonant-vowel ratios 8. Curve of differential percentage index In terms of these devices Irwin and his co-workers have attempted to determine the most significant measures to describe the growth process inprelinguistic with agroup

of 95 babies

speech. Employing thesemeasures between birth and 30months

inworking

of age in

their

own homes, the following information has emerged from these studies. 1. With the use of the profile device (a bar graph in which the area of the graph is arbitrarily made equal to 100 per cent, and each variable along the abscissa is represented as a proportion of the total percentage), Irwin (42, 48, 49, 51 ) has demonstrated that in prelinguistic speech characteristic patterns of sounds emerge at different age levels.

Vowel development in infancy

appeared to proceed from the front to the back of the oral cavity, the earliest utterances of infancy being predominantly the front vowels, with a tendency for these sounds to become proportionately fewer as the middle and back vowels appear.

Curves of develop­

ment of consonants analyzed according to place of articulation demonstrated a sharp decrease in glottal sounds from birth to two and one-half years, while post dental consonant sounds

,

16 1

shoved a marked increment for the same period.

When consonants

vere classified according to manner of articulation the profile in­ dicated that 60 per cent of the consonants vere fricatives in the first half year, about 30 per cent vere fricatives for the l8 ~ months infant; tvo per cent of the consonants vere nasal in the early period, 10 per cent vere nasal later on etc. 2. Using the type-token ratio, an expression of the relation betveen the number of different categories of phonemes (types) to the total number of speech sounds (token) in a given sample, Chen and Irvin (l^) found that this ratio increased in value as the age of the infant increased, and decreased in value vith an increase in the size of the token. 3. Curves of phonemic frequency indicated that the rate of phonemic frequency development vas at first constant and then became exponential, i.e., for the first year and a half the average infant's production of phoneme frequencies increased at a constant rate and thereafter the rate vas an increasing one (Irvin, 5°)• On the other hand, the curve for phonemic type development approxi­ mated a parabolic arc (Irvin and Chen, 59)•

Increase in phonemic

types vith age vas not constant, but became less vith age. U. Curves for vovel and consonant frequency indicated that at the beginning of life vovel sounds occurred about five times more frequently than consonants, and not until the infant reached tvo and one-half years did the frequency of occurrence of consonants approximate that of vovel sounds.

(Irvin and Chen, 58 )

5- Curves for vovel and consonant type development (Chen and Irvin, 13) shoved that during the first year the mean number of vovel types

exceeded the mean number of consonant types. however, the situation was reversed.

After this point,

At two and one-half years

the infant possessed practically the full complement of vowel types used in adult speech, while at the same time it used only about two-thirds of the full complement of consonant types. . Other indices of speech development devised by Irwin (45 ) were the ratios between consonants and vowels in terms of both frequency and type.

The ratio of the number of consonants to the

number of vowels was determined for each subject as well as the ratio of the number of different consonants to the number of different vowels.

The mean ratio was then determined for each

.age group for each function.

When the number of consonant types

was divided by the number of vowel types the resultant ratio was Ct the consonant-vowel type ratio ^ .

When the number of consonants

was divided by the number of vowels the ratio was the consonantvowel frequency ratio ££. Vf

When the values for these ratios for

monthly age groups from 1 to 30 months were plotted it was noted that the type ratio curve approximated a parabolic arc, while the frequency ratio curve was linear.

This meant that the consonant-

vowel type ratio showed a decelerating rate of progress, whereas the consonant-vowel frequency ratio displayed a constant rate of increase.

The type ratio curve, however, also demonstrated a

peculiar aspect at the 12-month age level.

At this point a

plateau phenomenon was noted, indicating that the rates of increase of consonant and vowel type means tend to approximate each other.

(Irwin, 45)

r 7 * Finally, the differential percentage index (DPI), developed "by

18 1

Chen and reported by Chen and Irwin (15) had as its primary purpose a comparison of the stage of development of infant speech in terms of the adult level.

Using this index, it was found that

there was a gradual approximation of infant speech to the adult speech level in terns of frequency of vowels and consonants.

Summaries of several of the above findings have been presented by Irwin (4l, k&) and by Irwin and Chen (56). In addition to these basic findings considerable information is also available on a number of problems which are related to infant speech development.

For example, in relation to intelligence Irwin

and Chen (57)> using the Kuhlmann test of mental development, have pointed out that speech sound development for the first two years of life is independent of intelligence test scores when these scores are not extreme.

However, the developmental status of a group of

four-year-old feebleminded children was shown by Irwin (^3) to approximate that of children below one year of age. Reports (Irwin, 52, 53) on the effect of family occupational status on the progress of infant speech showed that there were significant differences in the speech development of children between one and one-half and two and one-half years of age from homes of laboring families as compared with children from business and professional backgrounds, although the effect of the occupational component on speech development before one and one-half years of age was negligible. No difference in prelinguistic speech was apparent between Lbabies with other siblings and those without older siblings (Irwin, 5^)jJ

r Furthermore, Irwin and Chen's work (59) indicated no critical difference in favor of either sex insofar as prelinguistic vocaliza­ tion was concerned, although there was a tendency noted for girls to "be slightly superior to boys after the first year of life. A report of particular relevance to the present investigation was that of Brodbeck and Irwin (9 ) who studied the speech behavior of institutionalized infants from birth to six months.

Comparing the

speech development of institutionalized infants with that of infants living in their own homes, these authors found that the speech develop ment of the former fell below that of family infants in both frequency and types of sounds used.

Furthermore, there was also a different

growth pattern for the two populations. This finding is in keeping with the general picture of retardation in development which characterizes the institutionalized child.

Investigators such as

Bender (4 ), Lowrey (70 ), Freud and Burlingham (27), Spitz (88), Levy (67), Ribble (84 ) and Goldfarb (30) have indicated the serious and lasting detrimental effects of institutionalization upon the psychological development of the child.

The evidence also points to

the fact that the earlier the child is subjected to institutionalized care the more pronounced and resistant to therapy are the symptoms of deprivation.

These findings have direct relevance to the speech

function of the child.

Most investigators have noted rather casually

the symptoms of retardation in the speech area for institutionalized infants, although Freud and Burlingham (27) have claimed that this retardation was not apnarent until the beginning of word usage. Since information on the nature of prelinguistic sneech develop­ ment in institutionalized children is so limited in scope, and is so

20 "i frequently characterized by seeming contradictions, the present study vas undertaken in an attempt to obviate many of the difficulties of the earlier research, and to establish a normative sequence of the development of this process in the institutionalized child.

For this

purpose the data vere analyzed in terms of a variety of speech indices, including some of those developed by Irvin and his co-vorkers.

The

relevance to infant speech of such factors as period of institution­ alization, characteristic intonational patterns, sex differences and the relationship of behavior to vocalization vas also analyzed. Particular emphasis vas given to critical controls such as the folloving vhich have been neglected for the most part by former in­ vestigators :

1 . An adequate number of subjects chosen at discrete age levels. 2 . An objective system of recording. 3 . An internationally accepted system of transcription. Details as to the nature of these controls and the particular pro­ cedure used in the present investigation are presented in the folloving methodological section.

L

-I

21 r

1 CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE

Preliminary Work

Since the coal of the nresent investigation vas to analyze the prelinguistic speech develonraent of institutionalized infants, it vas necessary to secure accurate and objective recordings of their vocal­ izations .

For this nurnose a recording machine vhich met certain

specifications vas sought.

The orincipal features of a recording

instrument vhich had to he considered in the uresent investigation included fidelity of recording, portability, length of record, and cost. A vide variety of recording machines vere examined before the final selection vas made.

These devices vere of three tynes: disc, vire,

and tape recorders.

The machine vhich best satisfied the requirements

of the present study vas the Soundmirror Magnetic Recorder, Model BK

1+01, manufactured by the Brush Development Co., Cleveland, Ohio.

This

instrument has a recording caDacity of 30 minutes, a range of frequency oick-up of from 100 cps to 5>000 cus, a fidelity of play-back vhich is equal to, and in some instances superior to, similar recording devices, and veighs 1+0 pounds.

In addition to the recording machine it vas

necessary to secure a crystal m.ierouhone and 25 reels of recording t a p e . Each reel of recording taue could be used indefinitely, old recordings being automatically erased as nev ones vere superimposed upon i t . A second nroblem arose concerning the choice of subjects. Originally it had been intended to use as subjects the first 100 institutionalized, veil babies vho vere available at certain pre-

22 determined age levels.

Unfortunately, however, unforeseen diffi­

culties made the task a much more formidable one than was antici­ pated.

Consequently, in order to secure 100 acceptable records, i.e.,

those in which 30 or more discrete sounds occurred during 30 minutes of recording, 202 tests had to be conducted.

Crying, falling asleep

and simple lack of vocalization constituted the main reasons for discarding subjects.

The following table presents the number of

tests which resulted in failure to secure a record, the number of subjects on whom the tests were made, their sex and the reasons for failure.

Table 2 Frequency and Causes of Inadequate Test Responses according to Discrete Age Groups Age 'in M o s .) 6

No. of Sub j .

(M

18

13

9

17

12

l6 10

5

8 k 6 k

u ;

35

15 18 Totals

F)

5 9 12 k

1 31

No. of Unsucc. tests

Reason for failure Crying Asleep No Vocaliz

27 27 27

12 k

12

9

k 1

102

3?

13

6 2 1

9 21

13 8 8

9

59

The discrepancy in the above table between the number of unsuccessful tests and the number of subjects is due to the fact that a given subject was often tested more than once in an attempt to secure an adequate record. In order to note the overt behavior of the subject parallelling the vocalization during the test period, it was necessary to select items of behavior which most clearly characterized the infant’s activity.

Furthermore, as the infant develops, his principal

behavioral components change, so that the behavior that is character - J

23 r istic of the six-months-old infant may not provide appropriate categories for describing the behavior of the year-old infant.

n

Therefore,

a series of preliminary observations on a number of babies from each of the five discrete age levels used in the present study was under­ taken.

The characteristic behavior items for each age group were noted

and when further observation indicated no other readily observable behavior, a single behavioral chart including the basic components for all age levels was compiled. form the core of the chart.

Four major categories of behavior

They refer to:

1 . Gross motor activity 2 . Fine motor activity 3 . Dominant "mood" (Crying, smiling etc.) of the subject k.

Gross postural characteristics

Further details as to the specific sub-headings of each of these major categories will be found in a sample form of the chart on page

in

Appendix A.

Experiment Proper Material In addition to the recording apparatus already described, equip­ ment was employed in the present study for the purpose of limiting somewhat the subject's area of movement for optimum recording without, however, imposing any unusual restriction upon his behavior. materials included a crib, a high chair, and a play pen.

These

Furthermore,

in order to elicit vocalizations in a spontaneous play situation the infants were supplied with a variety of playthings consisting of a small rubber toy (Mickey Mouse or Porky Pig) a fuzzy animal toy and

a ball.

The experimenter used a lap board for recording the

behavioral activity of the subject, and a stop watch to indicate discrete temporal intervals during the test period.

Subjects The data for the experiment proper were based on satisfactory half-hour recordings of the spontaneous vocalizations of 100 insti­ tutionalized infants.

The subjects were obtained through two child-

caring institutions in New York City, 56 of the babies from the New York Foundling Hospital and 5^ from the Angel Guardian Home in Brooklyn. Since the present study had as its primary purpose the analysis of the development of language in infants, care was taken to select the subjects at age levels which would best allow for the demon­ stration of any developmental trends in the linguistic process. Thus among the 100 subjects there were twenty in each of five age groups as follows:

Table 3 Number of Subjects in Each Age Group according to Sex Age (in mos .) 6 9 12 15 18

N

M

20 20 20 20 20

15

5

Ik 10 ik

6 10 6

15

5

F

Each child tested was within at least two weeks of his monthly birthdate at the time of examination, and efforts were made to test each subject as close to his monthly birth-date as possible within these limits.

It will be noticed that the proportion of boys to girls

25 tested approximates a 3 to 1 , rather than a 1 to 1 ratio.

The former "i

proportion is in keeping vith the relative number of male and female infants present in the institutions samples in this investigation.

The

larger number of boys than girls is probably due to the tendency of foster parents to favor girls over boys for adoption purposes, since girls are generally considered to be easier to train, less active and more affectionate than bo y s .

Procedure All the infants vere tested in the early afternoon hours (between

12 and 4 o ’clock).

This time vas chosen because it coincided vith the

usual recreation period for the children, and therefore allowed for a testing situation under normal play conditions.

It also avoided the

bathing, dressing and feeding routines of the babies vhich occupied the morning hours.

The children vere tested individually by the experi­

menter in a playroom or another room set aside for this purpose. The general procedure employed vas as follows.

Identifying data

vere secured for each infant in the institution including name, sex, date of birth and date of admission to the institution.

Then, using

the age factor as the basic criterion for selection, an infant vas tentatively chosen for testing.

If a baby gave any indication of

physical disability, i.e., a cold or heightened temperature reading, he vas discarded as a subject for that day.

No tests vere attempted on

infants who vere crying or sleeping at the time of selection.

When,

however, an infant of the required age vas found to be in good health, awake and in a pleasant mood, he vas introduced to the testing situation.

The experimenter personally went to the crib

of the infant selected for testing, played with him for a short while, and then after establishing a pleasant contact vith the child, carried or led him into the examing room.

Here, the children in

j

26 r

r ^ the 6 and 9 months age groups were placed in a crib, since institution­ alized infants of this age characteristically remain in a supine position in their cribs for the greater part of the day.

Children in

the 12, 15 and 18-months age groups, however, were tested in either a high chair or play nen in order to permit greater freedom of action, since these children were accustomed to considerable activity in their everyday nlav.

The microphone was susnended over the crib or

nlav nen from a metal bar nrojecting from a stand. and the micronhone were

r>laced

Both the stand

well out of the child’s reach.

After

being placed in the crib or nlay nen the child was presented with the toys while the experimenter played with him.

Then the experimenter

took a seat in a corner of the room about 10 feet from the child and pretended to read. Each child was given a 'warming u p ’ period of about twenty minutes in which to become accustomed to the surroundings of the experimental room.

If no spontaneous vocalization occurred within

that period of time the test was discontinued.

If, however, within

this ’warming up* period the child gave evidence of not too in­ frequent vocalization the test proper was begun by starting the recording machine.

The examiner approached the microphone suspended

above the child and announced the name of the subject while simultane­ ously starting a stop watch.

The experimenter then went back to the

chair in the corner of the room, and by means of the behavioral chart kept a complete record of the child's activity in half-minute intervals during the test period.

L

It should be noted that a minimum

27 r

of 30 phonemes1 during the half-hour test period were required for

"1

a record to be acceptable in the present study. Twice during the record, i.e., after about 10 and 20 minutes respectively the experimenter interrupted the child’s activity with a series of vocalizations in order to determine whether or not there was any characteristic difference in the child’s babbling when he vocalized spontaneously as compared to his babbling when he was stimulated vocally by another individual.

The first of these interruptions

consisted of the experimenter approaching the child, smiling and saying "Hello there" several times while playing casually with him.

The

second interruption was an attempt to determine the point in the child’s development at which imitative vocalizations occurred.

For this

purpose the experimenter approached the child a second time, and after gaining his attention said, "Say da-da" several times.

Opportunity

was given the child to vocalize spontaneously during both periods of vocal stimulation.

A brief record of what the child did during these

periods of stimulation was noted on the behavioral chart.

The test

period was terminated thirty minutes after it was begun by the experimenter announcing ’End of record’ into the microphone.

The

child was then removed from the experimental room and returned to his own bed in the nursery. It should be noted that any incidence of persistent crying during or before the test period automatically disqualified a subject, so that all the records in the present study are made up of only non­ crying vocalizations. Slight divergences from the aforementioned procedure occurred

1 The term ’Phoneme’ refers to a family of sounds in which each l

symbol represents one sound only, and each sound is represented by only one symbol.

. J

28 r

~i occasionally.

For instance, if a child threw his toys out of reach

and appeared to want them back, they were returned by the experi­ menter.

However, if this activity appeared to assume the status of

a game as it sometimes did, it was discontinued since such play would obviously serve as too great a distraction for purposes of the nresent investigation.

Again, if on occasion, an infant got into a position

from which he could not free himself, or appeared to be struggling to assume a new position, the experimenter intervened to help him. Aside from instances of this kind, however, no other interference occurred with the child's activity throughout the test period. In order to obtain the basic data for the present study each record was transcribed phonetically in the International Phonetic Alphabet by an expert phonetician.

This transcription, like the

behavioral record, was divided into a series of one-half minute intervals so that not only was it possible to ascertain what kinds of sounds were made, but it could also be determined at what point in the record these sounds had occurred, and what behavior had taken place concomitantly with them.

Information as to the characteristic

intonational pattern accompanying the infant's vocalizations was also provided in the transcription.

For this purpose three different

pitch levels were described: high, middle, low, and as each sound was transcribed phonetically its characteristic pitch was indicated by drawing a line underneath it in the proper space category.

fieliability Finally, in order to ascertain the reliability of the phonetic transcription a sample of ten transcriptions (two at each age level) L

-I

29

r— vas selected.

These transcriptions vere then checked by the experi­

menter, vho listened to the original record, compared it vith the transcription, and noted any omissions, additions or distortions of phonemes vhich seemed to occur.

The percentage of agreement betveen

the tvo transcriptions vas then computed by dividing the number of deviations of the second from the first transcription by the total number of sounds in the first transcriptions, and subtracting the quotient from 100 per cent.

In the present investigation these

percentage agreement values ranged from 86 to 96 per cent, 7 of the 10 values being as high as, or higher than 90 per cent. In regard to measures of the internal consistency of the data, the folloving reliability coefficients (corrected vith the SpearmanBrovn prophecy formula) for the odd and even half-minutes according to the total number of phonemes and the total number of different phonemes vere obtained.

Table 4 Odd-Even Reliability Coefficients for Phoneme Frequency and Phoneme Types b y Age Groups Age (inmos.) 6

9 12

15 18

r (phoneme freq.)

.92 .93 .82 .87 .99

r (phoneme types)

.91 .90 .96 .89 .9^

The magnitude of the above correlation coefficients is evidence of the high degree of internal consistency of the basic data in the present study. It appears, therefore, that vith the techniques described in this L

-J

r chapter measures of infant vocalizations are being obtained which show satisfactory consistency in the behavior of the infants at the levels being studied, and that two judges trained in the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet can transcribe such records without context with a satisfactory degree of agreement.

31 r

CHAPTER III RESULTS

The development of prelinguistic speech in the institutionalized infant was the primary area of interest in the present investigation. Consequently, in the analysis of the data, those measures were utilized which most clearly set forth the basic characteristics of this process. In addition, it was recognized that no growth process occurs in a vacuum.

Simultaneous with the development of speech in the infant,

progression in a number of other behavioral components takes place, and the interrelationship between these factors and the speech function cannot be neglected.

The following presentation of results,

therefore, attempts to take into consideration not only the nature of the prelinguistic speech development of the institutionalized infant, but also to consider this process in relation to a number of other concomitant variables.

A. Vowel and Consonant Development The total number of vowels, consonants, and diphthongs'*" for each age group together with their means and standard deviations are pre­ sented in Table 5 *

The most striking features of these results are:

(a) the regular increase in the mean number of consonants used with age, and (b) the markedly greater frequency of vowels over the frequency of consonants.

Both of these findings are presented

graphically in Fiyure 1 .

It mav also be noted in Table 5 that the

x * Since only 23 dinhthonsa appeared in the total of 36,18*4- sound elements for all subjects they were eliminated for purposes of further statistical analysis and, accordingly, appear only in Table 5 * L

j

32 r

Table 5 • Total number of vowels, consonants and diphthong for each age group together with their means, standard deviations and ranges. 18 mos N =20

6 mos. N =20

9 mos. N -20

Freq.

^571

536^

5193

k 6k 6

Mean S.D. Range

228.55 156.60 A8-750

268.20 123.60 108-603

259.65 ^ 9-595

232.30 II6.A5 89-387

9A3

13^3

1803

2073

38^9

V 7.15 26. AO 8-109

67.15

90.15

5U.30 13-218

59.15 17-225

103.65 71A0 20-272

198.10 26-856

2

2

2

7

10

.10

.10

.10

•35

.50

5516

6709

6998

6726

10235

275-80

335.^5 156.50 121-723

3^ 9-90 16^.15 69-6^0

336.30 153.85

5II.75 395 A O 1^-1891

12 m o s . N =20

15 m o s . N -20

VOWELS

96.65

6376 318.80 203.A5 85-IO35

CONSONANTS Freq. Mean S.D. Range

192.45

DIPHTHONGS F req. Mean

TOTALS Freq . Mean S.D. Range

170 .ko 65-822

126-606

33

▼

SUBJECT

^ tv-o cm on onvo un on on tr— _=*■-d- Ov cm o co h co uv-d■> _~h fHOV VO VOonrHVOCO_=hHVOVOrHOontHCMonOJ rH rH rH rH oo on t— H

H

ovvo co on ov_d- on h- cm O OJ OJ UV rH H OJ

h o

on OJ -d-

FOR

EACH

i co *

vo CM OJ I—I ,dH CM

VOWEL FREQUENCY

UV

CM OV CO CM OVO 0OO OVVD t—■U V _=j- OVO OVCO H r H O J H H r l H H on^t rH OJ rH LTV rH OJ

d) cq vo-d- on on-3- irvvo O rH O CM tv-vo ^ o H H c o oniA tHrH/l>onCMOOOGVVOonO\VOoOr-|onOJHOVCM-3-d* H rH (U i —I i —Ii—IOJ rH i —1 rH fd Is

td o

LTV

OO ITS

tvH rH CM

cm CO UV H

O rH Ov on

S > (0

OF INDIVIDUAL

9 MONTHS

SOUNDS

O O / O on N rH

rH OV H CO vo VO CMonH- UV O H -d CM 0J -d-CM H d rH d d t— OV CMUVCO d CQ w d rH CM CM rH -P rH g g 1 h O i) rH fH t> ^ j

+3 O - G M M O a J O r H C M i A O J H H i n H H H f O O i C X l H C O - ^ O CO H rH CM

A w

-M" VO

CQ

rH i—I

H

i—I C "— rH i—I VO

O

O v H

LTN LTN LT\

-=t

VO O rH

CO

OJ

i—I i—I

SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT VOWEL

0 rH H OJ H

OJ

O O rH O J O J

LfN

in

O

VO CO t—

rH H

f— vo

vo

rH

•5 t ' - i r \ U - \ r H L r V O V O V O O \ m O J C V J V O r H t — C— C O C O H ^ -4on H OJ H o n ^ JOJ O J -=*• O O O N OJ O O -HrH

J U"VOJ C OV LT\-iM" H I A H (O

-> OO

rH^COVOOJOJ^tOJonoO H on i —IVO i —IOO

/ [— D— o v c M C M O i n c M O v . ^ j - O v m _ H - m m O \ c o

N h - H H o n o jo j^ - o jo n o j

to- h

oj

n

h

h

t— OJ

CM m H

h v o H i n cm o n

on

,=}-

in

o

h

o

h

vo

18 MONTHS

OF INDIVIDUAL

OJ

H

rH

m A O J O J H J - C \ l V O H O M A O - m H O n^-OO O V H O fOJ“1 f®cm -=}- t"~ in VO IfNVO D-CO OJ on LA ro v o 4 - lA lA b -C O oq flj -=f H 'cf . 2 >

rH

/•* 4 I

FREQUENCY

H OJ (X) OJ

b - H G \ H O J O H O r—I OJ

M rH O 0) pq io £>

vo t— oO VO

in O

VO

OJ

0O_=h r f CM O in rH rH CM OO^JrH

H

uni ct \-=j- u j -a o co -=!■ i.u cm oj rH

on CM rH

u in co n h rH rH

OJ OJ

iH in H

IT\ CM

CO

on

O

O

in on rH

OOVO H OO OJ CM OO-Hin H CM OJ rH

VO

u u u n o o o h c m n ioi ' n i nn rH I—I -H" OO rH rH

vo

CO

o

in in CM

CQ

-P rH

S 5 "

-=t

VOrIH

C M t - H r H

>

"*

O

CMCMHinont— OJO rH rH OJ

r H H H on_M- -H* on i—1

i—I

CM rH on on UVVO O O V O r H r H O C M r H O V C M C — onoo on on r H i n i n c M H C M - d on h J- i n c M H H

on

O

ov OV

CM

on

CO

CM

vo

-=t

rH cd

+3

-p o

O

3

C/3 L

o

Eh

rH cm o n _ d -

invo

t— c o

Ov O H C M 0 0 .H- i n v o f - c o O v O rl r H i— I i— It— I i—I i— I i— I rH i—I CM

rH cd

x w

-P

P

9

ca iH ’H O ) O Ji O

100 n

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 6 MONTHS

Subject

Bi-Labials b

'

9

b 10

^

3 11 12

5

1

6

2

1

2 3

TTk

Labio-Dentals

D

2 2

W

^

4

N/

-

2

9 1

7

8 9

10 11

2 2 3I43

2 3

5 1 56 10

3

12 13

3

lb

22

15

5 7

16

6 11

17

18

6

19

3

b

20

11

9

IX

133

$ of Total Consonants

1 1

1

22

Total

L

1 3 1

120

1

1

275

14

2

13

8 9

0

1

101

r

T

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 6 MONTHS (CONT’d)

Subject

Dental-A1vealor ®

\

A

1 2

2

3

5

2

k

k

5

6 7

3 1

8

2

9

2 8 13

10 11 12 13 lfc 15

1

3

3

2

1

16

'

17

18

2 1

19

20 IX

9 57

2

Total $ of Total Consonants

L

5 6k

6

0

0

_1

102

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 6 MONTHS (CONT’d)

Subject

Velar

Palatal

Glottal V

K

1 2 3

k

5

k

6 1 1

29

1

7 15

31 72

6 2

3

16 6

kk

8

6

3 3

k k

7

1

15

5

8 9

10 11 12 13 1^ 15

1 3 5 9

15

1 3

2

18 1 2

k6

1

9

L

13 17 76 23 109 69

68 50 63 39 32 27

13

k

5

11 21 26

1

17 5

1 6

15 13 59

kk

38

335

9^3

168

335

9^3

19

IX

35

32

2 1

Ik

17

20

30 11 11 22

18

16 18

i.X All Consonants

3

1

2 92

Total

92

$ of Total Consonants

10

6

1

12k

13

35 91

36

J

103 “i

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 9 MONTHS

Subject

1 2

Bi-■Labials ?

W 21

b k

2 2

3 k 5

1 2

6

12 1 8

1

5

1 2

7

8

5

9

10 11 12

Labio-Denta: * v

1

19 k

2 1

12 k 13 3 k

10 2

13 Ik 15

3

1

3 3 9

2

1 12

19

10

10

11

20

30 15

138

5

237

5

10

0

16 17

18

5

1

83

Total $ of Total

Consonants

L

0

6

1

J.

lOif-

r

n

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 9 MONTHS (CONT'd)

Subject

Dental-Alvealor e

^

t

d

1 2

lk

3 k 5

30

6 7

8

1

9

1

10 11 12

ij32

16

150 1 1 1

IT

k

13 lk 15

2

k2 3

2

1

18 19

20

3 67 353

1

1

k

Total

359

$ of Total Consonants

L

26

0

0

0

105 ”1

p

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 9 MONTHS (CONT’d)

Subject

A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Velar

Palatal

Glottal

IX All Consonar

V*

K ■*1 12

70 23

7

1

2

1

2 4

11 1 7

5* 31 101 23 12

7 4 3 5 57 2 32

117 27 118

37 120 29 66 59 74

16

3 3 4 6

17 18 19 20

1 3 1

7 2

1

16

1

4l 48 11 15 8 7 4 6 3 5 3 33 14

46

9

170

1

512

1339

512

1339

IX Total

11

3 1

1 1

46

180

* jo of Total Consonants

3

1

13

0

38

26

13* 16 216

13 22 15 32 16

72 130

106 I

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 12 MONTHS

Subject 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

?

1

1

n 12 13 14 15

Bi-Labials v> rr\ 12 21 1 2 2 2 1 1 k 2 29 2 6 1

w 11 22 3

Labio-Dentals ■9 v 3

26

kl

11 37 15

k

2k

1

6 5 5

2 4

1

lk

3 1

1 1

52

16

17 18

1

19 20 tx

3

7 1 1 1 93

13

Total $ of Total Consonants

L

0

5

1

9 12 5 1

1

300

11

409

11

17

1

107

FREQUENCY PF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 12 MONTHS (CONT'd)

Subject

1 2

Dental-Alvealor d

n

8

1

6k 1

1 1

3 30 83 k6 kl 92

o

3 k 5

6 7

8 9

10 12

3 3

13 lk 15

10

17

33 k 33

18

18

16

19

5

20

1

iX

3

536

2_

j

1 7

6 1

66

n

5

1

1

lk

k

2

Total of Total Consonants

L

11

1 571

o

30

0

0

108 r

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 12 MONTHS (Cont'&)

Subject

Palatal A

1 2

Y\

h

9

62

7

13

1

3^ b

6

1 8

7

8

6

9

bQ

10 11 12

2 3 3

9

18 b 32 3

7

11 27 b

4

2

-

28 11 2

18

3

19

169

Total

169 9

21

1

19b 103 123 92 93 136

166 97

225 127

82 22 21 b5 lib 17

8 2

2

39

5

b

12

20 19

21

372

1795

263

372

1795

1

21

60

b

IX

L

5 3 13

17

$ of Total Consonants

38 20 6 11

b

16

20

17 33 117 19 15

61 15

13

£ X All Consonai

i

6 1

3 b 5

13 lb 15

Glottal

Velar

221

12

-1

109

1

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 15 MONTHS

Subject P I

h

«Tk

w

12

2

1 22

3 k 5

lk 33

6

136

7

20

8

1

9

10 11 12 13 lk 15

67 2

15

11 k 5

1 1 2

6 11 1 12 5 9 5

12 1

202

19 19

2

18 19

21

20

15

1 12 1

282

20

k

vn O

Total

L

V

9 13

13 5 9

16

# of Total Consonants

A\

6 1 1 1

17

t x

Labio-Dentals

00

1 2

Bi-Labials

0

1^

1

10

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 15 MONTHS (CONT fd)

Subject

Dental-Alvealor

s 1 J "> ' 2 3 * 5

1

b2 103

6 7 8

12 9 16

9

32 10 20

13 lb 15

5

1 2

1

10 2

17

1

18

112

19

7 lb 51

1

1 13

k6

20 IX

2

3

5

10 11 12

16

65 1

53 ^9

1

b

675

2

2

k

70

0

33

0

0

0

3

Total $ of Total Consonants

111 T

p

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 15 MONTHS (CONT’d)

Subject

K

1 2 3

36

8 18

k

3

5

1

6

k

7

3

8

6 1

9

10 11 12

Glottal

Velar

Palatal

1 2 2

f • 3

10 11 10 18 1

n

1 1

99

1 1 2 1

7 7

13

V\ 9 129 *9 13

71

18

*1

ko

9k

12

36

9

3

35

6

1

20

9

11

32 3* 55 63 1*9

5

15

8

16

5 3

19

20

16 1

13* Total $ of Total Consonants

k 1

6

0

lk

5

2

9

5

2

*7 3

126 82

192

lk

*36

2068

212

*36

2068

1

21

13* 6

1

3

3

130 92

3k

8

18

225 270 228 170

4

17

115

23 1 11

lk

1

i X All Consonar

9

112 r

n

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 18 MONTHS

Subject

1 2

P r

Bi-Labials W r of Total Consonants

L

-J

113

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 18 MONTHS (CONT’d)

Subject

Dental-Alvealor t.

1 2 3 4 5

6

4 778 3^ 70 44 k9 35

8

23 108

9

40

7

1

\ 7

1 16 1 2 5

1

22 1

3

10 k 511 37

11

12 13 14 15

72 14

kl k6 kl

2 1

21 110

3 25

3 2064

65

16 17

18

4

2

19

20

2182

Total % of Total Consonants

L

47

0

54

J

FREQUENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSONANT SOUNDS FOR EACH SUBJECT 16 MONTHS

(CONT’d)

Sub ject

Palatal

Velar r\

K 1 2

19

3 b 5

b 59

3b

22

26

6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 lb 15 16

17 18

19 20 1.x

Total $ of Total Consonants

2

5 1

2

13 5 3 16

2 21 3 5 63 25 10 6 k

282

7 1

3

1

6 27 50

k 7 1 39 b k 31

5

265

0

7

11 1 11 20 8 26

8 3 1 22 b2 13 1 12 16

23

282

7

b2 1

Glottal W

7 31 6 5

£X All Consonai

856

5b 105

283 135 95 105 239 183 26

51 585 59 110 301 131 106

112 2*1-9 32

3

26

52

270

3817

322

270

3817

1

7

APP END I]

L

116 T

BITERNATIONAL PHONETIC ALPHABET (IPA)

Vowels

Consonants

Front a s

tt

JL

tt

% n £.

ti tf

a

in beat it bit n bait TI bet n bat 11 ask

Middle in bird & as tt n furtl 11 tt bud A Back in fool V ^ a s IT IT full o ?! ft boat St If fall a 11 IT ft not TD tt 11 calm Diphthongs fc.\ as in eye ft tt owl If tt boil PA I? tt gate CJ, tt tt oh ii tt you \M

L

Bi labial as in pit it b "tt tt bit milk to tt water W tt what " Labio dental food 1 as in I! vex V " Dental alvealor * as in thin n 4 " tt then top " tt dog A ” ft tr not ss 11 tt & tt tt sing . zebra 3r It show j : It azure tt like ? " tt run r " tt Church ! It judge b Palatal If ft yearn \ Velar in kick V L a s if it give tt ^ ■ sing Glottal Vk as in how

117

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r

Vita

Regina Molloy Fisichelli, daughter of James and Margaret Glynn Molloy, was horn May 17, 1921, in Brooklyn, New York. She attended St. Brendan*s Diocesan High School from September 193^ to June 1938. She entered Brooklyn College in September 193® and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June 19^2. In September 19^3 she was granted a Centenary Award for graduate work in the Department of Psychology at Fordham University. She received this award again in 1 9 ^ and 19^5* From 19^5 to 19^9 she was a lecturer in the Psychology Department at Brooklyn College and during this period she worked toward her degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Fordham University under the guidance of Dr. Dorothea McCarthy.

L