The aim of this diploma thesis is to describe the realizations of consonant clusters in an age- homogenous group of Czech-speaking children. The theoretical part of this thesis deals with the syllable and consonant clusters as language universals, as well as with the syllable structure and consonant clusters in Czech. Furthermore, some theories of speech acquisition which take combinations of segments and forming of syllable structure in children's speech into account are also presented. A number of studies in consonant cluster acquisition is also summarized. The practical part of this work consists of an experiment in which consonant clusters in 16 typically developing Czech children aged 3;8-4;9 ( x = 4,4) were analysed. Eleven various two-element consonant clusters were selected according to their frequency of occurrence in the corpus of written Czech. Clusters were placed in 30 real words and 30 pseudowords - the pseudowords had the same structure as real words. Imitation was used as a elicitation method. Pictures were used only as complementary elements. The entire sample consisted of 461 consonant clusters realized in real words and 464 clusters realized in pseudowords. We described the structure of the target consonant clusters (i.e. manner and quality/accuracy of realizations) and their...

Consonant assimilation between noncontiguous consonants within words is one of the characteristic error patterns for children reported in observations of the earliest periods of speech acquisition. Previous analyses of consonant assimilation in young children have been based on formal phonological theories. However, phonological perspectives do not provide comprehensive explanations for potential mechanisms underlying children’s output forms when they are different from adult forms. The present study tests the hypothesis that functionalist phonetic approaches have the potential to provide a more comprehensive explanation for assimilation patterns in children’s speech output. Consonant assimilation patterns were observed from the onset of word use (approximately 12 months) to 36 months of age in ten English-speaking children. Assimilated forms in consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) and consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel (CVCV) words produced by these children were analyzed. Predictions based on the Frame/Content perspective were evaluated relative to place and manner characteristics, vowel context, word level, and development over time. Results confirmed the prediction that motorically less available forms assimilate to more available forms in children acquiring ambient language speech patterns. Labial and coronal place of articulation more frequently motivated assimilation than dorsal. Stop and nasal manner of articulation more frequently motivated assimilation than fricative. The vowel context effects in assimilated forms were stronger for lingual consonants than labials and greater for CVCV more than CVC word forms. A word shape effect was observed related to place characteristics, direction of assimilation, and vowel context. A word position effect was observed for manner assimilations. Analysis of developmental trends revealed that children maintained a preference for motorically available forms in assimilations. The vowel context effects decreased over time. These findings suggest that patterns of consonant assimilation in these children are strongly motivated by behaviors already available within their production system capacities from the pre-linguistic babbling period, rather than being driven by patterns found in the targets they are attempting. Results also suggest that perceptual influences from language input may influence assimilation patterns to a lesser extent. Functionalist phonetic approaches that emphasize the understating of the production system and perceptual influences played a seminal role in understanding of children’s speech development relative to assimilation patterns. / text

Simultaneous bilingual and early sequential bilingual children are exposed to two languages while acquiring the sound system for the first time. In bilingual children who are identified with speech sound delay or disorder, the question arises of how to approach intervention in the most effective way. In monolingual English learning children, some strong within syllable patterns of coronal consonant and front vowel, labial consonant and central vowel, and dorsal consonant and back vowel that are based on rhythmic mandibular oscillations without independent movement of the tongue have been identified as occurring more frequently. No information is available on children learning Spanish or on children who are early bilinguals relative to the presence of these patterns in output. Consideration of the presence of these patterns, typical of early development in English learning children, would help to plan remediation more precisely for bilingual speech delayed children. If the patterns are present, they should be accounted for as basic aspects of the production system output available to young children that might need to be assessed and incorporated into early intervention protocols for bilingual children. The present study tests the hypothesis that significant similarities between performance-based, consonant-vowel (CV) co-occurrence patterns produced in Spanish and English can provide greater efficacy for assessment and intervention practices for bilingual Spanish-English children. Within syllable CV co-occurrence patterns were observed from 66 months to 81 months of age in six bilingual Spanish-English speaking children. Consonants were categorized into labial, coronal, and dorsal place of articulation while vowels were categorized by front, central, and back dimensions to evaluate co-occurrences. Predictions based on the Frame then Content (FC) theory (MacNeilage & Davis, 1990) were evaluated relative to intrasyllabic combinations of consonants and vowels. Results confirmed the prediction that CV co-occurrence patterns produced by bilingual Spanish-English speaking children share significant similarities with those produced by children in previously researched languages. These results show that the production based hypothesis of the FC theory of speech production, tested previously on English learning children is also characteristic of bilingual children learning Spanish and English. These findings suggest that consonant-vowel co-occurrence patterns are impacted by the capacity of the production system to produce different sounds in combination in diverse language learning circumstances, even when children are simultaneous bilingual learners. Mandibular oscillation without independent tongue movement within syllables is responsible for early intrasyllabic patterns produced by children. The FC theory supports the role of performance-based assessment and intervention for future practices in the field. / text