Optimality Theory Phonological Acquisition And Disorders

Focusing on the phonologies of children with functional (non-organic) speech disorders, this volume reports the latest findings in optimality theory, phonological acquisition and disorders. The book is based on typological, cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental evidence from over 200 children. It stands out because of the unique test case that the population offers to optimality theory, particularly with respect to puzzles of opacity, lawful orders of acquisition, and language learnability. Beyond its theoretical significance, this research holds clinical relevance for the assessment and treatment of disordered populations, most notably the systematic prediction of learning outcomes. The volume bridges the gap between theory and application by showing how each informs the other. It is intended for linguists, psychologists, speech pathologists, second-language instructors and those interested in the latest developments in phonological theory and its applied extensions.

The publication of this edited volume comes at a time when interest in the acquisition of phonology by both children learning a first language and adults learning a second is starting to swell. The ten contributions, from established scholars and relative newcomers alike, provide a comprehensive demonstration of the progress being made in the field through the theory-based analysis of both spontaneous and experimental acquisition data involving a number of first and second languages including English, French, German, Korean, Polish and Spanish. Aimed at those active in phonology and its acquisition, yet written to be accessible to the non-specialist as well, the volume carefully lays out the various theoretical frameworks in which the authors work such as Feature Geometry, Lexical Phonology, Non-Linear Phonology, Prosodic Phonology, and Optimality Theory.

This outstanding 2004 volume presents an overview of linguistic research into the acquisition of phonology. Bringing together well-known researchers in the field, it focuses on constraints in phonological acquisition (as opposed to rules), and offers concrete examples of the formalization of phonological development in terms of constraint ranking. The first two chapters situate the research in its broader context, with an introduction by the editors providing a brief general tutorial on Optimality Theory. Chapter two serves to highlight the history of constraints in studies of phonological development, which predates their current ascent to prominence in phonological theory. The remaining chapters address a number of partially overlapping themes: the study of child production data in terms of constraints, learnability issues, perceptual development and its relation to the development of production, and second-language acquisition.

Combining a collection of data on phonological acquisition with attention to Optimality Theory, this book blends the studies of linguistics, psycholinguistics, and speech-language pathology in reference to phonological development. It also contains an evaluation of competing theories and presents a view of non-linear phonology.

Any theory of phonology must be able to account for the acquisition and development of a phonological system, and studying acquisition often leads to reciprocal advances in the theory. This volume explores the link between phonological theory and linguistic development from a variety of angles, including phonological representation, individual differences, and cross-linguistic approaches. Chapters touch on the full spectrum of phonological development, from childhood to adult second-language learning, and from developing dialects to language death. Contributors are leading researchers in the fields of linguistics, speech pathology, and cognitive psychology. A tribute to Daniel A. Dinnsen, the papers in this volume complement his research career by highlighting significant contributions of acquisition research to the development of phonological theory.

Much of the work currently conducted within the framework of Universal Grammar and language learnability focuses on the acquisition of syntax. However, the learnability issues are just as applicable to the domain of phonology. This volume is the first to gather research that assumes a sophisticated phonological framework and considers the implications of this framework for language acquisition -- both first and second. As such, this book truly deals with phonological acquisition rather than phonetic acquisition.

Mark Hale and Charles Reiss present a fundamental critique of the phonological enterprise. They examine the nature of phonological acquisition and its relation to an innate acquisition device, consider the distinction between competence and performance, and evaluate competing explanations of diachronic phonology.