Covert contrast and covert errors in persistent velar fronting.
This study uses ultrasound tongue imaging to compare tongue contours for /t/and /k/in seven children with persistent velar fronting. We present a method of overlaying tongue contours to identify covert contrast at the articulatory level. Results show that all seven children, contrary to expectations, produced both /t/and /k/with near-identical tongue shapes showing no evidence of covert contrast. However, further analysis of one of the participants showed highly variable tongue shapes for /t/and /k/, including retroflex productions of both. Although not phonologically conditioned, this covert error is evidence of speech disorder at the phonetic level.
PMID: 27610938 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics - Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Cleland J, Scobbie JM, Heyde C, Roxburgh Z, Wrench AA Tags: Clin Linguist Phon Source Type: research
More News: Children | Speech and Language Disorders | Speech Therapy | Speech-Language Pathology | Study | Ultrasound