Phonological systems of a set of Putonghua-speaking twins

Impaired phonology is reported to be the most salient characteristic of the communication profiles of twin children. However, little is known about th e phonological development of twins speaking languages other than English. This case study described the phonological systems of a set of Putonghua-sp eaking twins, using quantitative and qualitative measures. The analyses ind icated that the phonological systems of the co-twins were not identical, th ough both evidenced characteristics of delayed or disordered phonological d evelopment and shared some error patterns. They comprehended both adult and their sibling's phonological forms, suggesting a dual phonological represe ntation in their mental lexicon for some words. These results confirmed Dod d and McEvoy's (1994) research findings for English-speaking twins.