Nance, Claire and Kirkham, Sam (2024) Acquiring tongue shape complexity in consonants with multiple articulations. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Applied Phonetics :. ISCA, Tartu, Estonia.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
This paper reports preliminary findings from a small-scale pilot study. Our aim is to understand the interaction of differing bilingual acquisition modes and the development of articulation in children. Specifically, we investigate differences between Scottish Gaelic-English bilingual children from different backgrounds: sequential bilinguals (Gaelic L1), simultaneous bilinguals, and sequential bilinguals (English L1). Ultrasound and acoustic data were collected from sixteen children in Gaelic immersion education in Lewis, Scotland, and eight adults who are professional Gaelic users. Analysis of tongue shapes using Modified Curvature Index and Number of Inflections indicates that children are less able to differentiate multiple lingual gestures. Children from Gaelic-only homes produced more adult-like tongue shapes. These preliminary results indicate that production differences observed between groups of bilinguals may have an origin in the early acquisition of motor control skills.