The Emergence of the Speech Capacity

447 Pages·2000·9.613 MB·English

by  D. Kimbrough Oller

The Emergence
of the
Speech Capacity
This page intentionally left blank
The Emergence
of the
Speech Capacity
D. Kimbrough Oiler
University of Maine
Copyright © 2000 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be repro­
duced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, retrieval sys­
tem, or any other means, without prior written permission
of the publisher.
First published by
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers
10 Industrial Avenue
Mahwah, NJ 07430
This edition published 2012 by Psychology Press
Psychology Press Psychology Press
Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group
711 Third Avenue 27 Church Road
New York, NY 10017 Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA
Cover design by the author’s son, Laban D. Eilers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oller, D. Kimbrough.
The emergence of the speech capacity/by D. Kimbrough Oiler
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8058-2628-9 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 0-8058-2629-7 (pbk : alk. paper)
1. Language acquisition. 2. Oral communication. 3. Animal
communication. 4. Primates. 5. Language and languages.
—Origin. I. Title.
PI 18.043 2000
40Γ.93—dc21 99-052021
CIP
Contents
Preface XV
The Magic of Baby Talk XV
The Interpretation of Our Vocal Heritage xvi
Acknowledgments xvii
Chapter 1: Interpretation of Communication Systems: 1
The Role of Infrastructural Modeling
Babbling as a Step Toward Language 1
Alphabetical Transcription of Babbling and Other Sounds 3
Infrastructural Description in the Sciences 6
An Infrastructural Model for Human Phonology 9
Levels in an Infraphonological Scheme 12
Key Achievements in Infraphonological Modeling 14
The Importance of Distinguishing the Producer From 15
the Receiver
New Directions: The Potential Role of Infrastructural Modeling 18
in Comparative Ethology
Infrastructural Models of Both Signals and Communicative 19
Values
Properties and Principles 21
A Hierarchy of Infrastructural Properties 24
V
vi Contents
How This Effort Differs From Prior Characterizations 26
of Linguistic Evolution
Plan of the Book 27
Chapter 2: Myths About Babbling and the Tradition 29
of Transcription
Intuitions About Babbling and the Academic Pendulum 29
The Beginning of Systematic Research in Vocal Development: 30
Dietrich Tiedemann
Historical Roots of the Shoe-Horning Approach to Description 33
in Babbling
The Myths of Midcentury 35
The Legacy of Jakobson 36
Jakobson on Babbling 38
Discontinuity and Nativism 42
Deafness and Babbling 42
Babbling Drift and the Problem of Shoe-Horning 45
Phonetic Transcription as the Standard Tool of Babbling 46
Description
Excursus on Phonetics and Phonemics 46
Irwin's Transcription-Based Studies 47
Chapter 3: Reversing the Field: The Recognition 49
of Protophones
An Initial Impression of Problems With the Phonetic 49
Transcription of Babbling
Stages of Development in the Light of Protophone 51
Categorization
Empirical Evaluation of the Claims of Jakobson 51
The Intuitive Plausibility of Reduplicated Sequences 53
Earlier Evidence Contradicting the Jakobsonian View 53
Importance of the Distinction Between Canonical 57
and Precanonical Sounds
The Blinding Nature of Preconception 58
Contents vii
Chapter 4: Infraphonology: Overview and Central Results 60
Fundamental Theoretical Changes 60
An Initial Sketch of the Infraphonological Notion of Canonical 61
Syllable
What Does Such a Simple Definition of the Canonical Syllable 63
Buy Us?
How Infraphonological Interpretation Elucidates the 67
Protophone Stages
The Distinction Between Vocalizations in Deaf and Hearing 68
Infants in Light of the Infraphonological Model
The Procedural Break With the Past Implied by the Recognition 71
of the Canonical Stage
Chapter 5: Keys to an Infrastructural Approach: 75
Infraphonology as a Basis for Vocal Comparisons
Development of Scientific Infrastructures and Infraphonology 75
Analogies Among Infrastructural Systems in the Sciences 76
How the Infraphonological Interpretation of Protophones 79
Came About
Why the Initial Infraphonological Interpretations of Infant 80
Sounds Were Focused on Syllables
Physical Parameters, Operational-Level Units, 81
and Infrastructural Mediation
Why a Purely Physical Parameter-Based Approach Does Not 84
Represent a Solution to the Interpretation of Babbling
Sounds or Vocalizations of Nonhumans
The Role of Real Perceivers in Interpretation of Acoustic Data 89
Infraphonology as a Mediator 90
Universal Characteristics of Syllables in Natural Languages: 90
The Empirical Basis for a Canonical Syllable Definition
Durations of Syllables 91
Amplitudes of Nuclei and Margins in Syllables 92
Phonatory Patterns in Speech 93
Pitch Patterns of Syllables in Natural Languages 95
viii Contents
Resonance Patterns and Formant Structures of Syllables 96
Formant Transitions and the Rapid Transmission of Speech 96
A More Formal, But Still Schematic Definition of the Notion 99
of Canonical Syllable
On the Indefinite Size of the Potential Repertoire of Canonical 100
Syllables
On Markedness of Canonical Syllables 100
On the Occurrence of Noncanonical Syllables in Mature 101
Languages
The Intuitive Basis of Infraphonological Structures 104
The Need for External Definitional Elements—Avoiding 104
Circularity
Infraphonology in the Perspective of the Nature-Nurture Matter 105
The Schematic and Provisional Nature of the Infraphonological 109
Proposal
The Difficulty of Adopting the Infraphonological View 110
of Description
Chapter 6: The Grounding of Vocal and Gestural Development 112
in Biology and Experience: Physical Foundations for Speech
and Sign Language
Evidence of Canalization in Motoric Development 112
Babbling in the General Context of Motoric Development 114
Limits on Babbling Canalization 115
The Role of Auditory Experience in Vocalization Development 115
The Role of Motor Practice in Vocal Development 117
Infrastructural Modeling and the Relation Between Vocal 119
and Manual Babbling
Chapter 7: Canalization Results: The Stability of Protophone 122
Development in a Variety of Contexts
Significant Outcomes of Infraphonologically Inspired Research 122
on Vocal Development
Results on Canalization of Babbling 123
Contents ix
The Role of Low SES 123
The Role of Prematurity 126
The Role of Combinations of Extreme Poverty and Prematurity 127
The Role of Exposure to Different Languages and Bilingualism 130
Chapter 8: Limits on the Disruption of the Canalized Pattern 132
of Babbling
Why Hearing Impairment Disrupts Babbling But Does Not 132
Prevent it
Development of Protophones in a Cochlear Aplasie 135
The Interpretation of Hearing Impairment as a Limited 137
Disruptor of Vocal Development
Results on Canalization of Babbling: The Role of Mental 141
Retardation
The Possibility of Screening for Disorders by Evaluating 143
Protophone Development
Disorders of Special Interest for Screening 144
Specific Screening Studies Based on the Evaluation of Canonical 146
Babbling Onset
Chapter 9: An Expanded View of the Landscape in Infant 151
Vocalizations: Infrastructure for Sounds and Functions
in Babbling
Two Aspects of Infrastructural Modeling in Vocal Development 151
Two Kinds of Properties That Must Be Commanded by Any 152
Species Seeking to Communicate Powerfully in the Vocal
Domain
The Lay of the Land in Infant Vocal Communicative Action: 153
Sounds Other Than Protophones
Vegetative Sounds 153
Crying as a Communication: Sometimes Accidental, Sometimes 155
Intentional
Laughter and Smiling 157
The Lay of the Land in Infant Vocal Communicative Action: 158
The Protophones and Their Usage