Young children with cleft lip and palate (CLP) are at risk for early speech and vocabulary delays. There have been few data-based investigations of specific early intervention approaches to remediate these early delays. This study examined the acquisition of obstruents in a group of children with CLP before, during and after an early speech and language intervention to identify the changes that occurred in the sound system as the children engaged in early intervention. Participants included 18 children with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) between 15 and 36 months (MN Age 22.5; MN IQ: 107) received a clinician administered naturalistic language and speech intervention in 32 sessions over four months. The children were tested prior to intervention, midway through the intervention and immediately after the conclusion of intervention. Speech assessment, the Profiles of Early Expressive Phonological Skills (PEEPS; Williams & Stoel-Gammon, 2010)) was administered at each time point. This newly developed age-appropriate assessment focuses on single words. Whole word phonetic transcriptions were completed by a clinician trained in transcription of children with CLP. Transcription reliability, assessed with a second transcriber, was 89%. The intervention was a hybrid naturalistic language and speech intervention that targeted production of obstruents. Acquisition of place, manner and voicing features across the 3 time points was examined for error features during intervention. Error pattern changes are compared to measures for consonant inventory by word position and place of production, and percentage of consonants correct (PCC). Profiles of speech acquisition will be discussed relative to typical performance. This preliminary data provides information regarding the acquisition of early speech production of obstruents for children with clefts. The data will assist clinicians to make evidence-based decisions about the effectiveness of early speech interventions.

The thesis is concerned with the German speakers' pronunciation of the Czech language, specifically with the issue of the voicing of obstruents. The phonological voicing is realized differently in Czech and German and the assimilation of voicing follows diverse principles. The pronunciation is often underestimated in education. The objective of the thesis is to find out the most frequent mistakes and to propose some improvements for tuition. I have thoroughly analysed 20 read speeches made by German speakers. I have also compared course books from the point of view of pronunciation engagement. The most problematic issue appeared to be the assimilation of voicing on the boundaries of syllables and words. The main contribution of the thesis should be the summary of German speakers' pronunciation difficulties and the materials which can be used for further tuition.

Die vorliegende Dissertation befasst sich mit den artikulatorischen und perzeptiven Charakteristika der palatalen Artikulationsstelle, wobei der empirische Schwerpunkt auf der Untesuchung des ungarischen palatalen Obstruenten liegt. Die Motivation für diese Forschungsfrage ist der Tatsache geschuldet dass sich eine beträchtliche Anzahl instrumentalphonetischer Arbeiten sowohl aus dem Bereich Sprachproduktion als auch aus dem Bereich Perzeption mit den drei Hauptartikulationsstellen - labial, alveolar und velar - auseinandergesetzt hat. Im Vergleich dazu befasst sich vergleichsweise wenig Forschungsliteratur mit der der Klasse der Paltale. Der einleitende Teil der Arbeit fasst die theoretischen Ansätze zum Thema sowohl aus phonologischer als auch aus phonetischer Sicht zusammen. Die Ergebnisse des empirischen Teils der Arbeit demonstrieren einige durch palatale Segmente hervorgerufene instrusive Effekte, wenn diese als zusätzliche Antworkategorie zu den drei Hauptartikulationsstellen in Experimenten zur kategorialen Wahrnehmung präsentiert werden. Artikulatorische Studien mittels Elektormagnetischer Artikulographie (EMA) weisen den ungarischen Palatal als dorsopalatal mit diesbezügluch charakteristischen koartikulatorischen und biomechanischen Features aus. / This dissertation presents articulatory and perceptual characteristics of the palatal place of articulation with the focus on the Hungarian palatal obstruent. This research question is motivated by the fact that a lot of instrumental research in perceptual but also articulatory phonetics has concentrated on the study of the three major - labial, alveolar and velar - places of articulation whereas substantially less attention has been devoted to segments from the palatal class. The introductory part summarises the relevant foundations from both phonetic and phonological perspectives. Empirical cross-linguistic work demonstrates some intrusive effects of the palatal segment when introduced in an experimental setup manipulating transitional parameters in a Categorical Perception study. Studies by means of Electromagnetic Articulography phonetically qualify the Hungarian palatal as a dorsopalatal with characteristic coarticulatory and biomechanic features.