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Regression and Reorganization of Intonation Between 6 and 23 Months
Author(s) -
Snow David
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00870.x
Subject(s) - intonation (linguistics) , psychology , perspective (graphical) , language development , problem of universals , developmental psychology , linguistics , artificial intelligence , computer science , philosophy
The purpose of this study was to describe the pattern in which English‐speaking children acquire intonation. A second goal was to account for emerging intonation from a theoretical perspective. Six groups of 10 children each between the ages of 6 and 23 months participated in individual play sessions with their mothers and an experimenter. Pitch contours were acoustically analyzed in monosyllabic utterances produced by each child. The observed nonlinear shape of intonation development suggested a linguistically based pattern of regression and reorganization. However, the precocious expression of intonation in the youngest infants also pointed to the role of physiological universals and emotional experience. It is concluded that children's early intonation reflects biological, affective, and linguistic influences.