On the acquisition of rhyme structure in Dutch

Transcription

1 On the acquisition of rhyme structure in Dutch Paula Fikkert 0. Introduction In this paper I focus on developmental patterns in the acquisition of rhyme structure in Dutch. 1 Rhyme structure in Dutch has several characteristics that children have to learn. First, Dutch syllables can be closed by any consonant except /h/. Second, Dutch has both long and short vowels. Third, the vowel length contrast only exists in closed syllables; in open syllables only long vowels occur. This is captured by the minimal rhyme constraint which states that Dutch rhymes are minimally bipositional (Trommelen 1983, Kager & Zonneveld 1986, Kager 1989, among others). In addition to this language-specific minimal rhyme constraint Dutch rhymes also obey the universal maximal rhyme constraint, which states that rhymes are maximally bipositional (Kaye & Lowenstamm 1981, Kager 1989). However, at the end of words an extra consonant is allowed, which I will refer to as the extrarhymal consonant. 2 Word-finally we thus find syllables ending in -VVC and -VC son C obst. 3 Section 1 gives a description of the developmental stages in the acquisition of rhymes. We will see that at the first stage children only produce open syllables, and that vowel length distinctions are not mastered at this stage. Since the vowel length contrast in Dutch only exists in closed syllables, I hypothesise that children first have to acquire final consonants before they can learn the vowel length contrast. 4 This hypothesis is confirmed in section 1. However, the matter is slightly more complicated. We will see that when final consonants first appear, they are exclusively realised as obstruents (stage 2). Moreover, I will show that not only are sonorants acquired later (at stage 3), but they also behave differently from obstruents in another respect. Sonorants show a strong relationship with the preceding vowel, while no such relationship exists for obstruents. I will argue in section 2 that obstruents are in the coda; sonorants in the nucleus. I will further show that at stage 3 children begin to represent vowel length in some, but not all environments. I will argue that, since at this stage rhymes are maximal bipositional, reflecting the faxt that the maximal rhyme constraint is important at the early stages of acquisition, the vowel length contrast does not show up before obstruents. Moreover, long vowels never show up before sonorants in the child s output forms. At stage 4 the vowel length contrast is represented in all environments. I argue that at this stage the extrarhymal position is available in the child s template. Section 3 summarises the main results and conclusions that can be drawn from them. 1 I am grateful to Elan Dresher, Colin Ewen, Harry van der Hulst, Aditi Lahiri, Claartje Levelt and Jeroen van de Weijer for their comments and criticisms at various points of developing ideas in this paper. This work was supported by the Foundation for Linguistic Research (Stichting Taalwetenschap) which is funded by the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) (project number ). An earlier version of this paper is presented at the Boston University Conference on Language Development, January 7th, 1994, Boston. 2 This extrarhymal consonant lies outside the rhyme, but within the scope of the syllable, because it can make a syllable heavy, as shown in Fikkert (1994). The extrarhymal consonant also obeys the Sonority Sequencing Principle (see Selkirk 1984). 3 An extrarhymal consonant can be followed by an appendix, consisting of coronal obstruents (Booij 1981, Trommelen 1983, van der Hulst 1984, among others). However, since this aspect of syllable structure is learned very late, it will not be discussed here. The consonants in the appendix do not obey the Sonority Sequencing Principle. For discussion of the arguments see Fikkert (1994). 4 Stress facts cannot guide the child in the acquisition of vowel length constrast, since, although Dutch is a quantity-sensitive language, long vowels do not count as heavy, but as light (see for instance, Lahiri & Koreman 1988, Kager 1989, Trommelen & Zonneveld 1989, 1990).

2 PAULA FIKKERT 2 1. Developmental stages in the acquisition of rhyme structure: a description. The desciption of the developmental stages in the acquisition of rhymes is based on final stressed syllables. This means that the discussion is mostly restricted to monosyllabic words, and polysyllabic words with stress on the final syllable, such as konijn rabbit /ko nein/. The data used in this paper come from the Fikkert/Levelt corpus. It contains longitudinal data of 12 children acquiring Dutch as their first language. The children were recorden every other week and were followed for a period of one year. In this paper I only give data of one of the children, Jarmo. Although there are minor differences between the children, his developmental patterns are representative for other children Stage 1: the core syllable CV At the initial stage of acquisition Jarmo produces no forms with final consonants. Target words with final consonants are repaired, that is, final consonants are not realised. He has only open syllables until 1;6.13. Examples are given in (1). The length mark indicated phonologically long vowels. (1) Final consonant deletion a. klaar ready /kla r/ Æ [ka], [ka ] (1;4.18) b. daar there /da r/ Æ [da ], [da] (1;5.2) c. poes puss /pu s/ Æ [pu ] (1;5.2) d. dit this /dit/ Æ [ti], [ti ] (1;5.2) e. tok cluck /tok/ Æ [ko], [ka ] (1;5.27) Jarmo s data in (1) show that final consonants are deleted no matter what kind of vowel precedes them. Moreover, words like klaar ready (1a) and daar there (1b), which have long vowels in the adult target forms, are produced both with short and long vowels; and words like dit this (1d) and tok cluck (1e), which have short vowels in the adult target forms, are produced with long and short vowels as well. It is, therefore, clear that vowel length distinctions are not used systematically. There is no evidence then that long vowels are represented as bipositional. Therefore, I assume that all vowels are represented by one V slot at this stage and that length is purely phonetic Stage 2: the appearance of final obstruents At stage 2 the first closed syllables appear in Jarmo s production forms. However, they are invariably closed by obstruents. From 1;6.13 syllable-final fricatives appear in Jarmo s forms, as shown in (2). Target fricatives are now usually produced as such (2a). Fricatives also substitute other target final consonants, as shown in (2b): (2) a. Final fricatives deze these /de z / Æ [teis] (1;6.13) deze these /de z / Æ [de s] (1;6.27) poes puss /pu s/ Æ [pu s] (1;7.29) b. Substitutions by fricatives paard horse /pa rt/ Æ [pa s] (1;7.15) bal ball /bal/ Æ [baf] (1;8.12) boot boat /bo t/ Æ [pauf] (1;8.26) At 1;7.15 final plosives appear in Jarmo s production forms, as shown in (3):

3 PAULA FIKKERT 3 (3) Final plosives aap monkey /a p/ Æ [Ap], [a p] (1;7.15) eend duck /e nt/ Æ [a t] (1;7.15) schaap sheep /sxa p/ Æ [ha p], [hap] (1;7.15) eend duck /e nt/ Æ [At] (1;7.29) Sonorants are not yet produced in syllable-final position. They are most often not realised at all (4a); alternatively, they are replaced by fricatives (4b). Replacement is however far less frequent than deletion. (4) a. Deletion of final sonorants daar there /da r/ Æ [da ], [da] (1;6.27) klaar ready /kla r/ Æ [ka ] (1;6.27) bal ball /bal/ Æ [ba] (1;7.15) boom tree /bo m/ Æ [bau] (1;7.29) b. Substitution of final sonorants bal ball /bal/ Æ [baf], [baf] (1;8.12) boom tree /bo m/ Æ [bo X] (1;8.12) oor ear /o r/ Æ [OX] (1;9.9) leeuw lion /le w/ Æ [he u*f] (1;11.20) Since vowel length distinctions only occur in closed syllables, I hypothesised that vowel length distinctions can only be learned when the child has closed syllables. At this stage closed syllables indeed occur, although they are invariably closed by an obstruent. Does Jarmo also represent vowel length distinctions at this stage? Let us look at the percentages of vowel length errors at this stage (from 1;6.13 until 1;9.23): (5) Percentages of vowel length errors at stage 2 in the production of target closed syllables Vowel length errors 39% (67/174) In (5) we can observe that the percentage of vowel length errors is very high. Vowel length is more or less random, that is, vowel length distinctions have not yet been mastered. In (6a) examples are given of the shortening of target long vowels and in (6b) of the lengthening of target short vowels. (6) a. Shortening of target long vowels aap monkey /a p/ Æ [Ap] (1;7.15) schaap sheep /sxa p/ Æ [Ap] (1;7.15) oog eye /o X/ Æ [OX] (1;9.9) poes puss /pu s/ Æ [pës] (1;9.23) b. Lengthening of target short vowels ik I /Ik/ Æ [i k] (1;7.29) vis fish /vis/ Æ [hi S] (1;8.12) bof wham /bof/ Æ [bauf] (1;8.26) vis fish /vis/ Æ [i S] (1;9.9)

4 PAULA FIKKERT Stage 3: the appearance of final sonorants and vowel length At 1;7.29 nasals also appear in final position in Jarmo s production forms, as shown in (7a), although nasals are still frequently subject to deletion (7b): (7) a. Final nasals boom tree /bo m/ Æ [bom] (1;7.29) haan cock /ha n/ Æ [ham] (1;7.29) bom boom /bom/ Æ [pom] (1;7.29) haan cock /ha n/ Æ [An] (1;8.12) b. Deletion of final nasals boom tree /bo m/ Æ [bau] (1;7.29) haan cock /ha n/ Æ [au] (1;8.12) trein train /trein/ Æ [tei] (1;8.26) From 1;11.20 Jarmo sometimes produces a liquid in syllable-final position, as shown in (8a). However, liquids are more often deleted than realised. Sometimes they are not deleted, but substituted, as shown in (8b): (8) a. Final Liquids bal ball /bal/ Æ [bal] (1;11.20) bril glasses /bril/ Æ [p Il] (2;3.9) b. Substitution of final liquids bal ball /bal/ Æ [baf] (1;8.12) uil owl /øyl/ Æ [En] (1;7.29) Although Jarmo s template is able to accommodate final consonants of the adult target in his own template, sonorants in final position are usually not realised as such at stage 2, and they are frequently deleted at stage 3 as well, contrary to final obstruents, as can be seen in (9). Moreover, (9) also shows that sonorants following long vowels are more frequently prone to deletion than sonorants following short vowels at stage 3, indicating that the vowel length distinction becomes relevant in the child s system. Deletion of final obstruents is not related to the length of the preceding vowel, as also shown in (9): (9) Jarmo s production of VVC son,vc son, VVC obst and VC obst targets at stage 3 target VVCson target VCson target VVCobst target VCobst child s form child s form child s form child s form VV 75% (47/63) VV 42% (8/19) VV 6% (5/77) VV 5% (2/40) VC 13% (8/63) VC 47% (9/19) VC 14% (11/77) VC 70% (28/40) V 3% (2/63) V 5% (1/19) V 1% (1/77) V 5% (2/40) VVC 9% (6/63) VVC 5% (1/19) VVC 78% (60/77) VVC 20% (8/40) The following picture can be deduced from (9): (10) Adult target Æ Jarmo s production form a. VVC son Æ VC son or VV VC son Æ VC son or VV b. VVC obst Æ VC obst or VVC obst VC obst Æ VC obst or VVC obst Sonorants show a close relationship with the length of the preceding vowel. If we look at vowel length errors in the child s production of adult target words ending in a

5 PAULA FIKKERT 5 sonorant, we see that long vowels before sonorants are shortened if the final sonorant is produced (11a). However, short vowels are lengthened when final sonorants are not produced (11b). Stated differently, whether or not the final sonorant is produced is largely dependent on the length of the preceding vowel: if a long vowel is produced, sonorants are generally deleted (11b, c). If a short vowel is produced, sonorants are often produced, as shown in (11a, d): (11) Jarmo s production of targets ending in sonorant at stage 3 a. VVC son Æ VC son maan moon /ma n/ Æ [mam], [mom] (1;10.9) uil owl /øyl/ Æ [øë] (1;10.9) haan cock /ha n/ Æ [ham] (1;10.23) boom tree /bo m/ Æ [bom] (2;0.4) Æ [pom] (2;0.4) b. VC son Æ VV bal ball /bal/ Æ [bo ] (1;10.9) bal ball /bal/ Æ [bau] (1;10.9) c. VVC son Æ VV trein train /trein/ Æ [tei] (1;10.9) stoel chair /stu l/ Æ [ty ] (1;10.9) daar there /da r/ Æ [da ] (1;10.9) boom tree /bo m/ Æ [bo ] (1;10.9) c. VC son Æ VC son bal ball /bal/ Æ [pa ] (1;10.23) Æ [bal] (1;11.20) bim ding /bim/ Æ [mim] (2;0.4) bam dong /bam/ Æ [bam] (2;0.4) ballon balloon /balon/ Æ [pom] (2;0.28) Although sonorants are often deleted and there are many vowel length errors, the output forms all have two positions. It seems that the child has a bipositional template for syllables ending in sonorants. If we consider vowel length errors in the child s production forms of target words ending in obstruents we see that at stage 3 most of the vowel length errors occur when the final consonant is retained. That is, in the child s production forms long vowels are shortened and short vowels lengthened in closed syllables. There seems to be no relationship between vowel length errors and final obstruent deletion. In (12a) examples of vowel lengthening from stages 3 are given; in (12b) examples of vowel shortening from stage 3 are given. (12) Vowel length errors before obstruents at stage 3 a. Vowel lengthening pad toad /pat/ Æ [ta t] (1;11.20) Æ [pa t] (1;11.20) vis fish /vis/ Æ [te s] (1;11.20) bad bath /bat/ Æ [ta t] (2;0.4) b. Vowel shortening huis house /høys/ Æ [AS] (1;10.9) kous stocking /kaus/ Æ [kas] (1;10.9) poes puss /pu s/ Æ [pøs] (1;10.23) uit out /øyt/ Æ [hat] (1;11.6)

6 PAULA FIKKERT 6 boot boat /bo t/ Æ [tot] (1;11.20) koek biscuit /ku k/ Æ [kok] (2;0.4) kijk look /keik/ Æ [kak] (2;0.4) Vowel length errors go in both directions and are independent of final consonant deletion. It seems, therefore, that vowel length is not completely mastered before obstruents. Obstruent deletion is not very frequent, but when it occurs it does not trigger vowel lengthening. We may therefore conclude that vowel length is non-distinctive before obstruents: all vowels are monopositional in this position. If this is correct, than the child has a (minimal and maximal) bipositional rhyme template at this stage. I will come back to this in section Stage 4: mastering vowel length and extrarhymal consonants At stage 4 an important change in Jarmo s system is that the percentage of deleted obstruents increases after long vowels in comparison to stage 3, as can be seen in (13): (13) The percentages (and raw scores) of deleted final consonants in Jarmo s data Target: VCobst VVCobst VCson VVCson Stage 3 10% (4/40) 8% (6/77) 53% (10/19) 78% (49/63) Stage 4 13% (7/54) 26% (6/24) 5 25% (6/24) 73% (61/84) Where: Stage 3 = 1;10.9 2;1.8 and stage 4 = 2;1.22 2;4.1. Examples are given in (14): (14) Deletion of obstruents after long vowels boek book /bu k/ Æ [tu ] (2;2.6) daag bye bye /da X/ Æ [da ] (2;2.6) kijk look /keik/ Æ [kei] (2;3.9) boot boat /bo t/ Æ [bo ] (2;3.9) vijf five /veif/ Æ [fei] (2;3.9) buik belly /bøyk/ Æ [bøy] (2;4.1) kijk look /keik/ Æ [kei] (2;4.1) vijf five /veif/ Æ [sei] (2;4.1) uit out /øyt/ Æ [øy] (2;4.1) However, if we look at the relationship between final consonant deletion/production and vowel length at stage 4, schematised in (15), additional observations can be made, certainly in comparison with (9). (15) Jarmo s production of VVC son, VC son, VVC obst and VC obst targets at stage 4 target VVCson target VCson target VVCobst target VCobst child s form child s form child s form child s form VV 70%(59/84) VV 21% (5/24) VV 25% (6/24) VV 4% (2/54) VC 6% (5/84) VC 67% (16/24) VC 38% (9/24) VC 78% (42/54) V 2% (2/84) V 4% (1/24) V 0% (0/24) V 9% (5/54) VVC 21%(18/84) VVC 8% (2/24) VVC 38% (9/24) VVC 9% (5/54) 5 Remarkably, the number of selected target words ending in VVCobst has decreased substantially here. This may be due to a selection strategy (see Schwartz & Leonard 1982), indicating that these words can no longer be accommodated into the child s template. If they are selected for production they often undergo the repair strategy, delete final consonant.

7 PAULA FIKKERT 7 First, target forms ending in VVC obst are more often produced as either VV or VC obst than at stage 3. Examples of the latter possibility are given in (16): (16) Vowel shortening at stage 4 kijk look /keik/ Æ [kak] (2;1.22) uit out /øyt/ Æ [At] (2;1.22) niet not /ni t/ Æ [nix] (2;2.6) vlieg fly /vli X/ Æ [tix] (2;2.27) kijk look /keik/ Æ [kek] (2;4.1) Second, target forms ending in VC obst are less prone to be produced as VVC obst in comparison with stage 3. In other words, the following pattern is now found (17): (17) Jarmo s production of target words ending in a final obstruent a. VVC obst Æ VC obst or VV b. VC obst Æ VC obst These observations are very similar to those of final sonorants at stage 3. 6 They seem to indicate that the child allows two positions in the rhyme: either a long vowel or a short vowel plus a consonant. In other words, the child seems to recognise the relationship between vowel length and the possibility of having a final obstruent. However, three additional observations need to be explained. First, target forms ending in VVC son are now more often produced correctly than at stage 3, as shown in (18): (18) VVC son Æ VVC son haan cock /ha n/ Æ [ha m] (2;2.6) kalkoen turkey /kalku n/ Æ [ku N] (2;2.6) schuur shed /sxy r/ Æ [Xu R] (2;2.6) tuin garden /tøyn/ Æ [tøyn] (2;2.27) daar there /da r/ Æ [ta Â] (2;3.9) banaan banana /bana n/ Æ [na n] (2;3.9) Second, the first final consonant clusters appear at this stage, as shown in (19): (19) Final consonant clusters hand hand /hant/ Æ [hant] (2;3.9) strand beach /strant/ Æ [tlant] (2;3.9) Third, target forms ending in VVC obst are still often produced correctly, although less frequently as at stage 3. These three observations seem to suggest that the child is beginning to allow an extra position after a bipositional rhyme. Furthermore, at stage 4 vowel length errors are not frequent in either environment. It seems that the child has more or less mastered vowel length distinctions. After this summary of the findings, let us now discuss them. In the following, I argue for a developmental pattern based on parameter setting. The settings of the parameters define the child s template. 6 There is an important difference however: compensatory lengthening does not occur: * VCobst Æ VV.

8 PAULA FIKKERT 8 2. Discussion and formal account 2.1. Stage 1: no codas At the initial stage in the acquisition process all parameters have the default value. The fact that at stage 1 no syllable is closed by a consonant gives evidence for the default setting [NO] of the branching rhyme parameter, given in (20): (20) Branching rhyme parameter Rhymes can branch into a nucleus and a coda [YES/NO] The fact that vowel length is non-distinctive gives evidence for the default setting [NO] of the branching nucleus parameter, given in (21): (21) Branching nucleus parameter: The nucleus can be branching [YES/NO] This results in the core syllable CV. Jakobson (1939/62), quoted in Clements & Keyser (1983), argues that all languages that have closed syllables also have open syllables, but that the reverse is not true. There are languages which only allow open syllables. In terms of the subset principle this means that the value no closed syllables allowed generates a subset of the forms which would be generated if the value had been closed syllables allowed. No closed syllables allowed is therefore the default or unmarked value. The subset principle demands that children begin with the subset, that is, children should start with the value no closed syllables allowed, since positive evidence can be gained for the marked setting. A child learning Dutch, which has closed syllables, will receive positive evidence for the marked value of the closed syllables allowed parameter from the beginning. If evidence for the marked value is available from the start, why do we find stage 1 at which closed syllables are not allowed? The answer lies in the fact that the first stage is universal, while the production of closed syllables by the child reflects that he has already learned properties of the adult target language Stage 2: branching rhymes At stage 2 the child s system allows closed syllables, which are invariably closed by an obstruent. The child has not yet mastered vowel length distinctions, and therefore represents all vowels as one V slot. That is, the branching nucleus parameter (21) still has the default value. Obstruents following target long and short vowels therefore are in the same position: they are mapped onto the child s VC rhyme template. Once closed syllables are allowed, the repair strategy which deletes final consonants should cease to exist. Although this is largely true for obstruents, it does not hold for sonorants. If final consonants are now allowed, why are sonorants more often deleted than realised at this stage? Apparently, obstruents can be accommodated into the child s template, while sonorants cannot. Since obstruents are universally never part of the nucleus, they have to be in the coda. I assume that the child is learning that rhymes can be branching into a nucleus and a coda. That is, the child is learning the marked value [YES] for the branching rhyme parameter (20). From the fact that sonorants are not realised at this stage, I conclude that they are not represented in the coda, although, in principle, they could be. The child seems to have, next to the core syllable template, a maximally bipositional rhyme template, in which the rhyme can branch into a nucleus and a coda, which is realised as an obstruent, as in (22):

9 PAULA FIKKERT 9 (22) Branching rhyme template Rh Nu Cd V obst This template explains why sonorants are deleted at this stage: they cannot be mapped onto the template unless the sonorant is replaced by an obstruent, as in (4b). The transition from stage 1 to stage 2 thus involves the setting of a syllable parameter, the branching rhyme parameter, from the default value [NO] to the marked value [YES]. Furthermore, the child has determined that only obstruents can fill the coda position Stage 3: branching nuclei and the maximal rhyme constraint At stage 3 sonorants appear in final position, although they are deleted more often than not. As we have seen, at this stage there are clear differences between obstruents and sonorants in syllable-final position in the child s production forms: (i) obstruents are generally produced, while sonorants are often deleted; (ii) whether sonorants are produced is largely dependent on the length of the preceding vowel. However, the fact that sonorants are sometimes realised indicates that they can now be accommodated into the child s template. Moreover, the fact that they behave differently from obstruents in that they show a close relationship with the preceding vowel suggests that they are in a different position from obstruents. I therefore propose that they are not in the coda, but are part of the nucleus. Apparently, the child is setting the nucleus parameter (21) from the default value [NO] to the marked value [YES]. In other words, the child now has a template in which the nucleus can branch, as represented in (23), as well as the core syllable template and the template in (22). (23) Branching nucleus template Rh Nu V [+son] where [+son] either is filled by a sonorant consonant or by the second part of a long vowel or diphthong Target rhymes consisting of a short vowel and a sonorant can now be mapped onto the child s template. However, target rhymes consisting of a long vowel and a sonorant cannot; hence, the final sonorant is usually deleted. However, there are other possibilities available to the child: target VC son rhymes can also be realised as long vowels, which fill both positions in the nucleus. Target rhymes consisting of a long vowel plus a sonorant can also be realised as a short vowel plus a sonorant, again filling both positions in the nucleus. However, VC son and VVC son target rhymes are generally not produced as VVC son or V. This suggests that the child s template is minimally and maximally bipositional. How both positions are filled is not dictated by the template; hence, we find much variation in realising a bipositional template. However, the child produces both long and short vowels before obstruents. What needs to be explained is the fact that the strong relationship between a sonorant and the

10 PAULA FIKKERT 10 preceding vowel is not observed between an obstruent and the preceding vowel. I will argue that the observed patterns can be described by assuming that (i) vowel length is more or less mastered; (ii) sonorants are in the nucleus, obstruents in the coda; (iii) rhymes are maximally bipositional 7 and (iv) the earlier branching rhyme template (22) is preferred over the newly acquired branching nucleus template (23). At stage 3 there is no relation between final obstruent deletion and vowel length errors. Although VVC obst is sometimes produced as VC obst, VC obst is also frequently realised as VVC obst. Final obstruent deletion is rare at this stage, but if it occurs if is equally likely to occur before long and short vowels. It therefore seems that the child realises a vowel and the coda consonant. However, if the coda consonant is realised, the preceding vowel can only occupy one position in the nucleus, given a maximal bipositional rhyme. Thus, although vowel length distinctions may be mastered, they cannot be represented in all positions. That is, long vowels cannot be represented at the same time as obstruents (or sonorant consonants). While a branching nucleus can either be filled by a short vowel plus a sonorant consonant or a long vowel, a branching rhyme can only be filled by a vowel and an obstruent Stage 4: extrarhymal consonants Stage 4 is characterised by the fact that obstruents and vowels show a similar behaviour at stage 4 as sonorants and vowels at stage 3: the rhyme is maximally binary, but there are now different ways of realising a binary rhyme, as shown in (17) One logical possibility is not found, however: vowel lengthening under deletion of an obstruent, i.e. VC obst Æ VV, is not attested. Apparently, compensatory lengthening is restricted to nuclei, providing further evidence for the claim that obstruents and sonorants are in different positions in the syllable. It is also an argument for having nuclei as constituents. In other respects, the representations in (22) and (23) are equivalent, in that they are both bipositional. A long vowel occupies two positions, and the final obstruent following the long vowel therefore cannot be part of the rhyme, which is universally maximal binary, but has to be in extrarhymal position. Apparently this position is not yet always present in the child s template, and, hence, final obstruents following long vowels are often deleted in the case that long vowels are represented as bipositional. However, as shown above, the existence of production forms ending in VVC son, VVC obst and VC son C obst at this stage provide evidence for a bipositional rhyme plus an extra consonant. The child s template can now accommodate three positions. At stage 4 the extrarhymal parameter is being set from the default value [NO] (underlined) to the marked value [YES]: (24) Extrarhymal parameter A (final) bipositional rhyme can be followed by an extra consonant (as long as it obeys the Sonority Sequencing Principle) [YES/NO] However, as we saw above, the newly acquired template (25b) is often overruled by the child s previous templates: the bipositional rhyme templates of stage 3. Apparently rhymes are optimally binary, as shown above. A long vowel occupies two positions, and therefore the final obstruent following the long vowel cannot be part of the rhyme. Since universally rhymes are maximally bipositional, the obstruent has to be in extrarhymal position. Apparently this position is just becoming available in the child s template at stage 4, and, hence, final obstruents following long vowels are sometimes produced and sometimes not. When the extrarhymal parameter is set to the marked value the child has the following templates: 7 This excludes the possiblity of having both a branching rhyme and a branching nucleus, since the resulting rhyme template would violate the maximal rhyme constraint.

11 PAULA FIKKERT 11 (25) Template at stage 4 a. b. s s On Rh On Rh Nu Cd Nu ERP V C V [+son] C obst Extrarhymal consonants have to obey the sonority sequencing principle (SSP), since they are within the scope of the syllable. Therefore, the extrarhymal consonant is not present after VC obst rhymes: it does not obey the SSP, since there are no consonants of a lower sonority value than obstruents. The extrarhymal position in (25b) is filled with an obstruent after a rhyme consisting of VC son or VV. However, sonorants after long vowels also occupy this position. At stage 4 Jarmo begins to acquire this aspect of Dutch syllable structure. 3. Summary and conclusions In this paper I have discussed the setting of some of the syllable parameters. The parameter values at each stage determine the child s template, which in its turn determines the relationship between the target input forms and the child s output forms. The development is summarised in (26): (26) Developmental stages Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 s Rh Rh Rh Rh Nu Nu Cd Nu Nu ERP V i Where V(:) = any vowel, C i = set of consonants that can appear in the coda (usually obstruents only, but children can differ in the set of consonants they allow in coda position); [+son] = second part of long vowel or diphthong, or sonorant consonant; ERP = Extrarhymal position. Stage 1: Stage 2: No syllable parameters are set. All parameters have the default value. The branching rhyme parameter (rhymes can branch into a nucleus and a coda) has been set to the marked value: [YES] Stage 3: Stage 4: Branching nucleus parameter (nuclei can branch) is set to the marked value: [YES]. The extrarhymal parameter (word-finally syllables can contain an extra position) is set to the marked setting: [YES].

12 PAULA FIKKERT 12 The account presented here clearly supports the existence of the subsyllabic constituents rhyme, nucleus, and coda. They are needed to adequately describe the developmental stages in the acquisition of rhymes. They are furthermore related to different parameters, whose settings determine the child s template. In its turn, the template dictates the relationship between the adult input and the child s output forms. References Booij, G. E. (1981). Generatieve fonologie van het Nederlands. Utrecht & Antwerp: Het Spectrum. Clements, G. N. (1990). The role of the sonority cycle in core syllabification. In J. Kingston & M. E. Beckman (eds.), Papers in laboratory phonology I. Between the grammar and physics of speech. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Clements, G. N. & S. J. Keyser (1983). CV phonology: a generative theory of the syllable. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Fikkert (1994). On the acquisition of prosodic structure. Doctoral Dissertation, HIL/Leiden University. Hulst, H. G. van der (1984). Syllable structure and stress in Dutch. Dordrecht: Foris. Jakobson, R. (1939/1962). Selected writings I: phonological studies. The Hague: Mouton 1939, expanded edition reprinted in Kager, R. (1989). A metrical theory of stress and destressing in English and Dutch. Dordrecht: Foris. Kager, R. & W. Zonneveld (1986). Schwa, syllables, and extrametricality in Dutch. The Linguistic Review Kaye, J. & J. Lowenstamm (1981). Syllable structure and markedness theory. In A. Belletti, L. Brandi & L. Rizzi (eds.), Theory of markedness in generative grammar. Pisa: Scuola normale superiore di Pisa Lahiri, A. & J. Koreman (1988). Syllable weight and quantity in Dutch. Papers from the West Coast Conference of Formal Linguistics Schwartz, R. & L. B. Leonard (1982). Do children pick and choose? An examination of phonological selection and avoidance in early lexical acquisition. Journal of Child Language Selkirk, E. O. (1984). On the major class features and syllable theory. In M. Aronoff & R. Oehrle (eds.), Language sound structure. Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press Trommelen, M. (1983). The syllable in Dutch: with special reference to diminutive formation. Dordrecht: Foris. Trommelen, M. & W. Zonneveld (1989). Klemtoon en metrische fonologie. Muiderberg: Coutinho. Trommelen, M. & W. Zonneveld (1990). Stress in English and Dutch: a comparison. Dutch Working Papers in English Language and Linguistics 17.