A distribution of the Italian definite articles "il" and "lo" is proposed that makes use of both Steriade's syllabification rules and a language-specific sonority hierarchy. The incorporation of these rules results in the generalization that the definite article "il" occurs before nouns or adjectives that begin with a consonant that is a member of…

A study assessed the effects of reverberation, noise, and their combination on 80 listeners' (ages 6-30) identification of consonants and vowels in naturally produced nonsense syllables presented at different sensation levels (SL). Listeners achieved maximum consonant identification performance at 50 decibels SL. Vowel identification scores were…

To investigate the relationship between reading accuracy and speech processing, 20 skilled readers (grades 2-3) were compared with 20 less skilled readers on a speech perception and production task. The vowel phonemes were less securely represented in the perceptual systems of the less skilled readers than were consonant phonemes. (Author/CR)

Recall performance of 22 first-grade and third-grade children who failed memory portions of a speech-language-memory screen was examined using digit and consonant-vowel (CV) stimulus sets. Data indicate children failing the screening battery differed quantitatively, rather than qualitatively, from children passing the screening batter. (Author)

Data obtained from a test of erasing an initial consonant or vowel of nonwords are presented and discussed to prove the inefficiency of processing when depending solely on acoustic decontextualized data. The experimental paradigm is the same as that used by the Universite Libre de Bruxelles. (six references) (LB)

Explores (1) the errors made by Dutch first graders in spelling syllable-initial and syllable-final consonant clusters; (2) error types that discriminate poorer spellers from better spellers; and (3) the relationship between these errors and those made when segmenting the same words. Finds the most prominent spelling error among poor spellers was…

When presented with stimuli that contain illegal consonant clusters, Japanese listeners tend to hear an illusory vowel that makes their perception conform to the phonotactics of the language. Assesses an alternate hypothesis that this illusion is due to a top-down lexical effect. (Author/VWL)

An investigation, analyzing the linking of skeleton and syntactical rules of Madurese, presents counterevidence to Marantz's claims about the nature of reduplication, and to Carrier-Duncan's claim that reduplication must precede all phonological rules. It is proposed that reduplication in Madurese is not affixation, as Marantz claims, and can be…

Reports two experiments which support the hypothesis that reaction time is faster to phonemes when the phonetic context matches the listener's expectation than when the vowel context is different. Reaction time to syllable targets is equal to phoneme, matched context targets. (PMJ)

Describes four experiments on the speech segmentation procedures of English listeners listening to English words and compares them to earlier work based on French speakers listening to French words. The results indicate that the segmentation process characteristically employed by French speakers and English speakers differs. (SED)

Analyzed the reading performance of dyslexic, poor, and normally achieving readers on a test of pseudoword reading according to the type of error committed. Findings failed to support the existence of a critical phonological processing difference between IQ reading-discrepant and IQ reading-nondiscrepant disabled readers. (74 references)…

Investigates the effects of morphological boundaries and the voicing characteristics of the following consonant on the duration of stressed vowels produced by hearing impaired adults. They do not vary the duration of stressed vowels in accordance with the durational recording observed in normal speech; however, this deviance is systematic. (PMJ)

Presents an analysis of colloquial-spoken Thai, showing how different tempi can be interrelated. Analysis of language processes, deletion paths, and syllable structure leads to the conclusion that phonological processes found synchronically in related but different rates of delivery should be captured by a universally applicable rule with certain…

The goal of this study is to discover the phonetic difficulties encountered in the acquisition of French as a second language by English-speaking children. The children are studying French in a total immersion situation without benefit of structural exercises or special French language laboratory classes. Of particular interest here is the extent…