Acoustic characteristics of trill productions by groups of Spanish children

Contrary to the English /r/, which has been extensively analysed, there is very little information on the trilled consonants in Spanish. These sounds are in general difficult to produce for young Spanish children and occur la ter (than other consonant sounds) in normal development. This payer describ es acoustic measurements made on the trill productions in Spanish children with varying degrees of speech intelligibility. The spectral (frequency, am plitude, C-V ratio) and temporal characteristics (duration of the trill, nu mber of open and closed periods-apertures and occlusions-and duration of th ese periods) were studied in 45 children (Granada, Spain) between 3.0 and 9 .6 years old, divided into 5 groups. The results reveal differences in spec tral and temporal acoustic correlates of trill /(r) over bar / among the fi ve speaker groups (e.g., the duration of the first aperture period was long er for the articulatory disordered group than for the normal control group) . They seem to indicate, in particular, that children who have trouble lear ning to make the trill sound do little more than tap the alveolar ridge. Mo reover, these children seem to use more of their tongues to make these gest ures; also, they do not make many trills or make them very quickly.