Describes rhotic acquisition differences in preschoolers with typical versus protracted phonological development, suggesting important implications for phonological research.
Key Points
The study aims to understand how preschoolers acquire the German rhotic and to compare outputs between children with typical and protracted phonological development.
Analyzed rhotic production in 48 preschoolers with varying phonological development.
Compared outputs to preliminary data from a standard German-speaking adult.
Examined frequency of variant and nonvariant outputs, focusing on clusters and multisyllabic words.
Both groups produced adult variants of the German rhotic but with lower frequency in younger children and those with protracted development.
Children with protracted phonological development had a greater range and frequency of nonvariant outputs, such as deletions and substitutions.
Findings indicate variability in acquisition based on developmental status, particularly in complex phonetic contexts.