Even at 4 months, a labial is a good enough coronal, but not vice versa.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Numerous studies have revealed an asymmetry tied to the perception of coronal place of articulation: participants accept a labial mispronunciation of a coronal target, but not vice versa. Whether or not this asymmetry is based on language-general properties or arises from language-specific experience has been a matter of debate. The current study suggests a bias of the first type by documenting an early, cross-linguistic asymmetry related to coronal place of articulation. Japanese and Dutch 4- and 6-month-old infants showed evidence of discrimination if they were habituated to a labial and then tested on a coronal sequence, but not vice versa. This finding has important implications for both phonological theories and infant speech perception research.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Tsuji, S; Mazuka, R; Cristia, A; Fikkert, P
Published Date
- January 2015
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 134 /
Start / End Page
- 252 - 256
PubMed ID
- 25460397
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1873-7838
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0010-0277
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.10.009
Language
- eng