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Title
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The relation between order of acquisition, segmental frequency and function : the case of word-initial consonants in Dutch
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Author
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Abstract
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| The impact of input frequency (IF) and functional load (FL) of segments in the ambient language on the acquisition order of word-initial consonants is investigated. Several definitions of IF/FL are compared and implemented. The impact of IF/FL and their components are computed using a longitudinal corpus of interactions between thirty Dutch-speaking children (age range: 0;62;0) and their primary caretaker(s). The corpus study reveals significant correlations between IF/FL and acquisition order. The highest predictive values are found for the token frequency of segments, and for FL computed on minimally different word types in child-directed speech. Although IF and FL significantly correlate, they do have a different impact on the order of acquisition of word-initial consonants. When the impact of IF is partialed out, FL still has a significant correlation with acquisition order. The reverse is not true, suggesting that the acquisition of wordinitial consonants is mainly influenced by their discriminating function. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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Journal of child language. - London, 1974, currens
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Publication
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London
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2013
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ISSN
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0305-0009
[print]
1469-7602
[online]
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DOI
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10.1017/S0305000912000219
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Volume/pages
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40
:4
(2013)
, p. 703-740
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ISI
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000322447900001
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Full text (Publisher's DOI)
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Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
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