Phonological assessment and analysis tools for Polish: Construction and use.

This contribution presents tools for the assessment of phonological development of Polish-learning children and an initial qualitative evaluation thereof. The tools are consistent with those developed for 16 other languages in a cross-linguistic study of phonological development that is embedded in the framework of constraint-based nonlinear phonology. This theoretical foundation underlies the composition of a Polish word list for elicitation plus a supplementary analysis and intervention planning form (where intervention is warranted). A qualitative pilot study evaluated the tools in terms of adherence to underlying theoretical constructs, coverage of Polish phonology in the developmental context and utility for testing two children, one of whom was characterised by protracted phonological development. Further steps are required to develop the test into a norm-referenced instrument for clinical and research purposes, including quantitative evaluations of the tools' psychometric properties.

Acquisition of the feature [+spread glottis] in Icelandic.

The feature [+spread glottis] ([+s.g.]) denotes that a speech sound is produced with a wide glottal aperture with audible voiceless airflow. Icelandic is unusual in the degree to which [+spread glottis] is involved in the phonology: in /h/, pre-aspirated and post-aspirated stops, voiceless fricatives and voiceless sonorants. The ubiquitousness of the feature could potentially affect the rate and process of its acquisition. This paper investigates the development of [+s.g.] in Icelandic, both in general and in a range of contexts, in a cross-sectional study of 433 typically developing Icelandic-speaking children aged two to seven years. As a feature, [+s.g.] is acquired early in Icelandic, although specific sound classes lag behind due to other output constraints. Children reach mastery of [+s.g.] by age three except in word-initial post-aspirated stops and voiceless nasals. Findings are interpreted in light of the literature on the feature and its development.

Singleton consonant onset acquisition in monolingual Granada Spanish-speaking preschoolers with typical versus protracted phonological development: Impacts of word structure and feature constraints.

While consonant acquisition clearly requires mastery of different articulatory configurations (segments), sub-segmental features and suprasegmental contexts influence both order of acquisition and mismatch (error) patterns (Bérubé, Bernhardt, Stemberger & Ciocca, 2020). Constraints-based nonlinear phonology provides a comprehensive framework for investigating the impact of sub- and suprasegmental impacts on acquisition (Bernhardt & Stemberger, 1998). The current study adopted such a framework in order to investigate these questions for Granada Spanish. Single-word samples of monolingual preschoolers in Granada (29 typically developing; 30 with protracted phonological development) were transcribed by native Spanish speakers in consultation with an international team. Beta regression analyses showed significant effects of age, developmental group, and word structure variables (word length, stress, position of consonants and syllables within the word); salience, markedness and/or frequency across the phonological hierarchy accounted for many patterns. The study further demonstrates the impacts of sub- and suprasegmental constraints of the phonological system on consonant acquisition.

A Japanese 4-year-old with protracted phonological development: the challenge of coronals.

This study examines the phonology of a Japanese four-year-old with mildly protracted phonological development (PPD) as a contribution to a special crosslinguistic issue presenting individual profiles in PPD within the framework of constraint-based nonlinear phonology. Although the child's word structure and vowels were well-established, certain consonant classes presented challenges. Coronal anterior obstruents often showed posteriorization (backing): dorsal stops replaced coronal stops, and with some exceptions, alveolopalatal affricates replaced anterior fricatives and affricates. The feature [+continuant] was also not yet established: palatal and bilabial fricatives and /h/ were either deleted or replaced with glottal stop; and non-anterior affricates replaced coronal fricatives. If affricates are analyzed as a sequence of [-continuant]-[+continuant], they were possible transitional elements from non-continuants to continuants. The profile culminates with suggestions for intervention based on the nonlinear phonological analysis, consistent with other papers in this special issue.

Interdentals to the rescue: a German four-year-old with protracted phonological development.

This paper examines the phonology of a German four-year-old with asynchronous phonological development: age-level word structure and vowels, but a restricted consonantal inventory. Both expected and unexpected developmental patterns were evident. While the absence of dorsal non-continuants and most coronal and labiodental fricatives and affricates is not unexpected in four-year-olds with PPD, less expected was his mastery of more marked /l/ and /ʁ/ and the pervasive use of ungrooved interdental fricatives (or affricates) as substitutions. Ungrooved interdentals often replace grooved fricatives and affricates, but in his system, they also replaced stops in more marked prosodic positions (unstressed initial syllables and clusters) and labiodental /f/. His case profile demonstrates the autonomy of phonological tiers (levels) but also the restrictive interactions that occur when one tier dominates, in his case, word structure. A proposed treatment plan targets new feature combinations and consonant sequences in order to address the asynchrony.

Complexity resolved: profile of a Slovenian child with protracted phonological development over an intervention period.

This paper describes the complex phonological patterns of one Slovenian-speaking girl with protracted phonological development who received phonological intervention. At 4;6, the child's word length, stress and vowels were age-level, but she showed reduced match levels (accuracy) for syllable structure and consonants. Unusual constraints on word position and sequences, particularly concerning fricatives and stops, resulted in many assimilations, reduplications and metatheses. Addressing these constraints in the first intervention period (to 4;9) led to higher overall accuracy and a transition from less typical to more typical mismatches ("errors"), e.g., sibilant grooving (stridency) and rhotic production as singletons and in clusters. The profile focuses on that initial pre- and post-treatment period, giving a brief overview of the follow-up intervention and outcomes and reflecting on implications for future research and clinical practice.11 The abstract is available in Slovenian language (see Supplementary material).

Uncommon timing variation in the speech of an Icelandic-speaking child with protracted phonological development.

The following paper presents an Icelandic-speaking child with protracted phonological development (PPD) over an intervention period (age 4;10 to 5;3) as a contribution to a special crosslinguistic issue describing individual profiles in PPD. Along with typical mismatch ("error") patterns, the child showed one pervasive and rare mismatch for Icelandic: compensatory lengthening of vowels when postvocalic consonant sequences reduced. Segment length is phonemic in Icelandic; thus, this pattern decreased her intelligibility considerably. A constraints-based nonlinear phonological framework served as a basis for analysis and intervention planning. Need addressed across the phonological hierarchy were: (1) accurate mapping between the timing tier (word structure level) and consonant and vowel tiers, through a focus on word-medial (WM) pre-aspirated stops; (2) onset complexity (word-initial (WI) /s/-clusters); and (3) a positional target, WI /f/. During intervention (17 sessions), she successfully produced training words for all targets. Monthly probes and a post-test at 5;3 revealed generalization to untrained words for pre-aspirated stops and labiodentals but not for /s/-clusters. Overall, compensatory vowel lengthening reduced substantially. The nonlinear analysis pointed specifically to the nature of the timing mismatches, supporting system-wide change.

When in doubt, glottal stop: A Mandarin-speaking three-year-old with protracted phonological development.

As part of a special issue on case profiles in protracted phonological development (PPD), we present a Mandarin-speaking three-year-old boy from Shanghai with severe PPD and no other developmental concerns. In comparison with typically developing (TD) children and a peer group from Shanghai with PPD, he had a very low Whole Word Match score (3.7% of words matched the adult targets exactly), reflecting severe constraints on word structure, consonants and diphthongs/triphthongs. His phonological output resembled that of younger children in its absence of fricatives, liquids and diphthongs/triphthongs alongside fairly high match for word length, tones and monophthongs, labials /p/ and /m/ and dorsal /k/. However, less expected was a pervasive glottal stop substitution in onset. The analysis describes his needs in detail but also strengths that could be exploited in phonological intervention.

When codas trump onsets: an English-speaking child with atypical phonological development before and after intervention.

This case study presents an English-speaking preschooler with severely protracted phonological development (PPD) before and after two six-week blocks of intervention (36 sessions). Pre-treatment (3;8), he showed very low whole word, singleton consonant, vowel, and word shape matches. He had two major uncommon patterns: (1) higher accuracy for word-final consonants compared with word-initial (WI) and word-medial (WM); and (2) frequent substitution of onset consonants with glottals [h] or [ʔ]. Goals and treatment strategies were selected using a nonlinear phonological approach. Post-treatment, there was a notable decrease in frequency of glottal substitutions and concomitant increase in word shape, consonant, and vowel match. Pre- and post-treatment data are presented and discussed in terms of theoretical and clinical implications.

Individual profiles in protracted phonological development across languages: introduction to the special issue.

Although group studies provide necessary information about the range and frequency of phenomena in phonological development, individual profiles (case studies) can be used to describe entire phonological systems in detail. Profiles from different languages can highlight similarities and differences across languages that may be less obvious in group studies. The current issue presents profiles of children with protracted phonological development (PPD: speech sound disorders) from 16 languages (Akan, Kuwaiti Arabic, Bulgarian, Canadian English, Farsi, Canadian French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Japanese, Mandarin, Polish, European Portuguese, Slovenian, Granada Spanish, Swedish). Utilising a constraints-based nonlinear phonological framework, each profile describes a child's strengths and needs in word structure, segments, features and their interactions and suggests an intervention plan. Where available, follow-up data from after clinical intervention are included. This introductory paper provides the theoretical background for the papers and reflects on the findings, drawing out particular themes and implications for phonological and developmental theories and clinical intervention.

When liquids and fricatives outrank stops: A Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking child with Down syndrome and protracted phonological development.

This paper describes the phonological system of a monolingual Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking 9-year-old girl with Down Syndrome (DS) as part of a special crosslinguistic issue presenting individual profiles of children with protracted phonological development within the framework of constraints-based nonlinear phonology. Her responses to a 100-word speech test were audio-recorded and transcribed narrowly by two native speakers. Analyses showed low accuracy for word shapes (CV sequences), primarily because of expected deletion patterns in initial weak syllables and clusters, but also reflecting inaccuracies in segment length. Vowel match was also relatively low. For consonants, she unexpectedly showed lower accuracy for stops than typically later-developing liquids and fricatives. This case study provides researchers and speech-language pathologists with broader information about expected and unexpected patterns in children with DS and protracted phonological development in general.

Protracted phonological development of a Portuguese six-year-old from the perspective of nonlinear phonology.

As a contribution to a special issue with individual profiles in protracted phonological development (PPD), we present a European Portuguese-speaking six-year-old, "Vicente". By age six years, Portuguese-learning children have generally mastered most of the phonology. However, Vicente showed severe persisting PPD, which was negatively impacting his general socialisation. Although word length and stress often matched the adult targets as did many consonants and vowels, consonants were restricted in distribution and sequences. Consonant clusters showed a particularly high proportion of reduction. A constraints-based nonlinear phonological analysis led to a proposed intervention plan to address needs across the phonological hierarchy in the context of his greater need for enhanced socialisation: starting with the more attainable new word positions and sequences for consonants in his inventory, before addressing a major need for new word structure (clusters) and minor needs for segmental development (additional coronals).

Complexity and sequence constraints in a Granada Spanish-speaking four-year-old with protracted phonological development.

This article describes the phonology of a Granada Spanish-speaking 4-year-old boy with Protracted Phonological Development (PPD) from the perspective of constraint-based nonlinear phonology. Although he had acquired basic word structure and a near-complete repertoire of vowels and consonants, he had difficulties producing more complex word structures (multisyllabic words, clusters, diphthongs) and producing sequences of consonant manner and place features across vowels. The analysis outlines his strengths and needs in phonological development, and proposes an intervention plan to address constraints on complexity and sequences.

Consonant cluster acquisition in Chilean children with typical and protracted phonological development.

The current study addresses the acquisition of tautosyllabic consonant clusters (CCs) in Chilean preschoolers with typical (TD) versus protracted phonological development (PPD). The objectives were to analyze accuracy of CCs and mismatch (error) patterns as a function of age (4/ 5 years) and TD/PPD group, examining effects of sonority, stress, place of articulation and development of /l/ and /ɾ/ as singletons. Participants included 20 Chilean Spanish-speaking children with TD and 20 with PPD (ages 4 and 5 years). The TD group showed higher accuracy and an age effect. For both developmental groups, timing unit match was higher than full segmental match. CCs with labial and voiceless C1s in stressed syllables were most accurate. In the PPD group, deletions predominated over substitutions, deletions of C1 were significantly higher and the typology of substitutions was more differentiated. Results are evaluated in light of previous research on Chilean preschoolers, and clinical implications are discussed.

Phonetic Transcription for Speech-Language Pathology in the 21st Century.

The past few decades have seen rapid changes in speech-language pathology in terms of technology, information on speech production and perception, and increasing levels of multilingualism in communities. This tutorial provides an overview of phonetic transcription for the modern world, both for work with clients, and for research and training. The authors draw on their backgrounds in phonetics, phonology and speech-language pathology, and their crosslinguistic project in the phonological acquisition of children with typical versus protracted phonological development. Challenges and solutions are presented, as well as resources for further training of students, clinicians and researchers.

Tap and trill clusters in typical and protracted phonological development: Challenging segments in complex phonological environments. Introduction to the special issue.

The papers in this crosslinguistic issue address children's acquisition of word-initial rhotic clusters in languages with taps/trills, that is, the acquisition of challenging segments in complex environments. Several papers also include comparisons with singleton rhotics and/or /l/ as a singleton or in clusters. The studies are part of a larger investigation that uses similar methodologies across languages in order to enhance crosslinguistic comparability (Bernhardt and Stemberger, 2012, 2015). Participants for the current studies were monolingual preschoolers with typical or protracted phonological development who speak one of the following languages: Germanic (Icelandic/Swedish); Romance (Portuguese/Spanish); Slavic (Bulgarian/Slovenian) and Finno-Ugric (Hungarian). This introductory paper describes characteristics of taps/trills and general methodology across the studies, concluding with predicted patterns of acquisition. The seven papers that follow are in a sense the 'results' for this introduction. A concluding paper discusses major findings and their implications for theory, research and clinical practice.

Tap and trill clusters in typical and protracted phonological development: Conclusion.

The current issue examined acquisition of challenging segments in complex contexts: Taps/trills in word-initial clusters, plus related targets (/l/-clusters and singleton rhotics and /l/). Data were from preschool children with typical versus protracted phonological development (PPD) in Iceland, Sweden (Germanic), Portugal, Spain/Chile (Romance), Bulgaria, Slovenia (Slavic), and Hungary (Finno-Ugric). Results showed developmental group and age effects. Clusters generally had lower accuracy than singletons, although not uniformly, and were more accurate in stressed syllables. The rhotics were less advanced than alveolar /l/ except in European Portuguese, where the lateral is velarized. In early development, the rhotic is often deleted, but in later, development substitutions for rhotics were more common, primarily non-nasal coronal sonorants, which match some of the place and manner features of the rhotic. Vowel epenthesis sometimes appeared in rhotic clusters. Children with PPD showed more varied mismatch patterns, including more than one mismatch pattern within a cluster. Implications for research and clinical practice are suggested.

Word-initial trill clusters in children with typical versus protracted phonological development: Bulgarian.

The current paper describes acquisition of word-initial (WI) trilled /r/ in clusters and as a singleton in 60 Bulgarian 3-5-year-olds with typically developing (TD) versus protracted phonological development (PPD). A native speaker audio-recorded and transcribed single-word responses to a picture-naming task (110 words) that included eight words with WI rhotic clusters and two with WI singleton /r/. Accuracy was significantly higher in the TD groups and for the PPD groups, by age. Mismatch patterns varied: the PPD cohort had the most varied patterns although the younger children with PPD showed more /r/ deletion in clusters, and the TD groups and 5-year-olds with PPD more substitutions for /r/. Substitutions for rhotics included taps (most frequent; possibly an acceptable variant), voiced uvular and palatal fricatives, laterals, glides, other rhotics, stops and nasals. These results add to the growing database on Bulgarian phonological acquisition concerning accuracy and mismatches by group and age.

Word-initial rhotic clusters in Spanish-speaking preschoolers in Chile and Granada, Spain.

The current paper describes Spanish acquisition of rhotic onset clusters. Data are also provided on related singleton taps/trills and /l/ as a singleton and in clusters. Participants included 9 typically developing (TD) toddlers and 30 TD preschoolers in Chile, and 30 TD preschoolers and 29 with protracted phonological development (PPD) in Granada, Spain. Results showed age and developmental group effects. Preservation of cluster timing units preceded segmental accuracy, especially in stressed syllables. Tap clusters versus singleton trills were variable in order of mastery, some children mastering clusters first, and others, the trill. Rhotics were acquired later than /l/. In early development, mismatches (errors) involved primarily deletion of taps; where substitutions occurred, [j] frequently replaced tap. In later development, [l] more frequently replaced tap; where taps did occur, vowel epenthesis sometimes occurred. The data serve as a criterion reference database for onset cluster acquisition in Chilean and Granada Spanish.