Child speech developmental norms in Greek monolinguals: whole word and consonant accuracy.

Child phonological development in standard Greek is aptly represented by both single-case and cross-sectional studies. While some quantitative measures exist, such as the 75% criterion in the acquisition of singletons and clusters, reported norms require replication to fine-tune existing indicators, inform non-existent ones, and better reflect children's typical developmental speech in contemporary Greece. Our cross-sectional study addresses this gap, in terms of consonant inventory acquisition, and percentage accuracy of words, singletons, clusters, and cluster reductions.

Phonological delay of segmental sequences in a Greek child's speech.

This paper investigates persistent elements of protracted phonological development (PPD) at ages 5;10 and 6;3 in a monolingual Greek girl's speech following earlier articulation intervention (3;6) and post-intervention assessment (4;3). The re-assessment data examined here, five months apart, were elicited using the Phonological Assessment for Greek (PAel). Results reveal interesting idiosyncratic patterns in the production of segmental sequences (VV, CC) in complex syllables and longer words, with a striking imbalance between singletons and sequences, which holds especially true for inconsistency in the acquisition of /ɾ/ across CV, CC, and C.

Measuring word-final consonant clusters in developmental child speech.

The correlation between the measure for cluster proximity (MCP) and the percentage of consonants correct (PCC) for word-initial two-member consonant clusters was recently found in the literature to be strong and statistically significant in developmental child speech. Because of this, MCP norms that quantitatively define stages in cluster development (omission, reduction, vowel epenthesis, and two-member production with a distinction on member accuracy) can be predicted from PCC norms that only measure cluster-member accuracy. In the present study, this investigation is extended to word-final two-member clusters for the purpose of examining whether the correlation between MCP and PCC is also strong and statistically significant as well as comparing stage performance between word-initial and word-final clusters using the MCP measure.

Correlation between the measure for cluster proximity (MCP) and the percentage of consonants correct (PCC).

A measure was recently proposed for the quantitative evaluation of consonant clusters in child developmental speech, the measure for cluster proximity (MCP). Its advantage over the widely used measure of the percentage of consonants correct (PCC) is that it differentiates the three main stages of cluster production: reduction, vowel epenthesis, and two-members, correct or not. The purpose of the present article is two-fold: a) to contrast MCP and PCC in two-member word-initial clusters produced within children with speech sound disorders (SSDs), tested before and after therapy, as well as in running speech within typically developing children, and b) to examine the correlation between the two measures across children in typical or atypical speech development.

A phonological assessment test for child Greek.

This article advances a clinical tool for assessing typical and atypical phonological development in children speaking standard Modern Greek or Hellenic (ISO 639.1, el). The proposed tool develops a comprehensive test that is archetypical of the standard idiom and of predominant dialectal variations and seeks to be readily available for logopedics and language researchers of child Greek anywhere.

The acquisition of English possessives by a bilingual child: Do input and usage frequency matter?

Previous research in child language shows that many aspects of language acquisition are frequency-linked. This study tests whether input or usage frequency predicts the order of acquisition and accuracy of a bilingual Greek-English child's English possessives. The child was followed longitudinally from age 2;6 to 3;11.

A measure for cluster proximity (MCP) in child speech.

The proximity of consonant clusters in child speech is measured in the literature by the proportion of adult-like produced clusters to targeted clusters. With this measure, all clusters that are produced adult-like score 100%, while all others score 0%. Consonant clusters in child speech go through three main developmental stages: omission, reduction, two-member production (as targeted or substituted).

Added syllable complexity in a child's developmental speech and clinical implications.

Added syllable complexity, whereby a non-targeted consonant is added next to a targeted consonant in the syllable, has received relatively little attention in studies of children with speech sound disorders (SSD) and typically developing children. Despite the scarcity and subtlety of the pattern, evidence in child and adult data indicates universality. The present article examines the pattern in a bilingual child's longitudinal speech in English from age 2;7 to 4;0, focusing on word-initial consonant addition.