AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST OF PHONEMIC CYCLICITY

Laryngeal-supralaryngeal cyclicity has been put forth as an acquisitio n principle that describes expansion of the phonemic inventory as a bi valent cycle with alternations between the elaboration of laryngeal an d supralaryngeal properties of the system (Gierut, 1994). This study e valuated experimentally the claims of the principle by manipulating th e domain of the cycle and the phase relationship of the cycle as indep endent variables, and by monitoring longitudinally the order of emerge nt phonemic distinctions in the sound systems of seven children with p honological delays (aged 3;4 to 5;8) as the dependent variable. Three general findings emerged: (I) the course of acquisition for all childr en was consistent with cyclicity; (2) there were no differences in pho nemic acquisition between children taught a laryngeal as opposed to a supralaryngeal distinction.; and (3) children taught out-of-phase with the cycle evidenced greater phonemic expansion than those taught in-p hase with the cycle.