本篇論文檢視台灣華語為母語之正常幼童以及構音異常幼童之滑音[j],[w], [ɥ]發展與產製表現，採長期觀察之方式，詳細描述正常幼兒滑音產製之出現及穩定年齡、頻率、正確率和發展順序，並且比較此三滑音於各音節位置之產製表現，進而比較兩組幼童之台灣華語滑音產製及音韻歷程之使用行為。本研究以標記理論及位置層級理論來檢驗幼兒滑音之發展與表現。 本研究總共觀察了四位幼童，將其分為兩組，第一組為兩位正常幼童，年齡在九個月至二十八個月和十個月至二十九個月，為期十九個月的觀察，另一組為兩位構音異常幼童，年齡在三歲十個月至四歲三個月和四歲三個月至四歲九個月，為期六個月的觀察。每兩週收錄一次長達一小時之語料，並利用錄製之高規格影音檔做譯寫及分析。 研究結果顯示，正常幼兒之滑音出現順序和穩定順序皆符合標記理論之預測，無標音早於有標音，其滑音產製之穩定度與音節位置相關，音節首位之滑音表現較音節中與音節末之滑音表現來的穩定，這與位置層級理論之推測相符合。構音異常幼童組中發現了有別於正常幼童之特殊取代模式，由較晚習得語音取代較早習得語音，其所產製的語音中會違反華語的音法限制。音韻歷程之表現在兩組幼童中皆偵測到刪除、換位、取代三種模式，其中皆以刪除為主要策略。 / The purpose of the present study is to report the developmental process of three Mandarin glides [w, j, ɥ] in terms of three word positions by examining the age of emergence and stabilization, the order of stabilization, and accuracy rate of thechildren’s production, and further compare the normative data with phonological disorder data in order to explore the possible phonological processes. This study alsoaccounts for the developmental process of glides on the basis of markedness theory and positional prominence hierarchy. A longitudinal study was carried out for the investigation of two normally-developing children, aged between 0;9-2;4 and 0;10-2;4, and two phonologically-disordered children, one of whom is between 4;3 and 4;9, and the other between 3;10 and 4;3. The data were collected at two-week intervals. The results showed that the order of glide emergence and stabilization of the normally-developing group is in accordance with the markedness theory. The unmarked [j], [w] precede marked [ɥ]. Moreover, the stabilization order of the three glides in terms of the three syllable positions was found to reflect the interaction between markedness constraint and positional prominence hierarchy. The unmarked glide in the initial position is the first to stabilize and the marked glide in the non-initial position is the last to stabilize. On the other hand, the children in the phonologically-disordered group were found to consistently replace the presumably earlier-developing glide with a presumably later-developing one, which differs from the process used in the normally-developing group. Furthermore, this group of children produced the combination that violates the phonotactic constraints of Taiwan Mandarin. In addition, there are three phonological processes, including deletion, metathesis, and substitution detected in children’s data. The most commonly used process is deletion in both groups of children.

Completely couched in and steered by the qualitative research method, this study examines the linguistic constraints on the code-switching of the bilingual Shona-Xhosa speakers in Cape Town. The views of the key research participants obtained through participant observation, interviews and questionnaires were heavily relied on. The motivations for the code-switching of the bilingual Shona-Xhosa speakers in Cape Town were explored in this study, including the Shona-Xhosa interlink. Myers-Scotton‟s Markedness theory was scrutinized to discern the assorted social variables motivating the bilingual speakers to code-switch in Cape Town while the Matrix Language Frame Model was used to determine that Shona is the base language and isiXhosa is the embedded language in the Shona-Xhosa code-switching in Cape Town. Diverse linguistic constraints were examined in the context of the Shona-Xhosa code-switching and their universality was disputed. Similarities between Shona and Xhosa were unearthed and the researcher recommends that further Shona-Xhosa studies be pursued. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)