Understanding how native speakers acquire the phonological patterns in their language is a key task for the field of phonology. Numerous studies have suggested that phonological learning is a biased process: certain phonological patterns are easily accessed and learned by the speakers, while others show acquisition difficulties. These differences…

Learners exposed to an artificial language recognize its abstract structural regularities when instantiated in a novel vocabulary (e.g., Gomez, Gerken, & Schvaneveldt, 2000; Tunney & Altmann, 2001). We asked whether such sensitivity accelerates subsequent learning, and enables acquisition of more complex structure. In Experiment 1, pre-exposure to…

The present work deals with Africanistic problems, raising questions of interest for general linguists, and linguists working in Indo-European, Finno-Ugric, and other special branches. The first two chapters deal with the field and difficulties of African studies and the general characterization of the African languages. Following chapters discuss…