The study in this thesis focuses on the development of word-onset consonant clusters, in two-year-olds, acquiring Dutch. Word-onset clusters are often simplified during acquisition, but the... Show moreThe study in this thesis focuses on the development of word-onset consonant clusters, in two-year-olds, acquiring Dutch. Word-onset clusters are often simplified during acquisition, but the studies reported here demonstrate a more complex and diverse range of developmental possibilities. For example, reduced onset clusters were found systematically to contain an acoustic trace in the subsequent vowel; a seven-staged process of /Cr/ development in production was revealed. In perception longer looking times at toel (stoel) as opposed to tein (trein), evidenced for a more stable mental representation of correct /sC/ clusters. This phenomenon is studied from different perspectives. Both longitudinal and experimental data are studied, and experiments comprise both production and perception. In addition to phonological analyses, detailed acoustic analyses are performed. The speech production mechanism appears to develop in a top-down manner. The main error source for onset cluster productions is initially formed by incomplete segmental representations in the mental lexicon; with complete specifications, syllable spell-out at the phonological encoding level forms the main error locus. Phonetic encoding errors are the most persistent. Variable word forms are a hallmark of early child language; they show the relative instability of a new developmental state of the speech production mechanism. Show less
This dissertation focuses on the overt marking of φ features encoded on perfective active auxiliaries in a group of Southern Italian dialects. In the geolinguistic area that stretches from central... Show moreThis dissertation focuses on the overt marking of φ features encoded on perfective active auxiliaries in a group of Southern Italian dialects. In the geolinguistic area that stretches from central Apulia-Campania to northern Calabria, present perfect and pluperfect auxiliaries generally exhibit different strategies as far as the overt marking of φ features is concerned. In these dialects, 1st and 3rd person present perfect auxiliaries are morpho-phonologically more marked than those expressing 2nd person. Conversely, pluperfect auxiliaries expressing 2nd person are morpho-phonologically more marked than those endowed with 1st and 3rd person. Our assumption is that these types of φ marking strategies depend on the application of a post-syntactic mechanism called Default Marking, according to which φ features encoded on perfective active auxiliaries get overtly marked only if their grade of markedness is the same as that expressed by the feature Tense. We propose that the Default Marking operation is at play also with definite determiners and demonstratives, as well as with modals. This is due to the fact that Default Marking is active only with (a subset of) functional heads that license periphrastic constructions. Show less
