Voice onset time: the development of Spanish/English distinction in normal and language disordered children

• Published in: Journal of phonetics Vol. 9; no. 4; pp. 437 - 444
• Main Authors: Konefal, Joanne A., Fokes, Joann
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 01.10.1981; Seminar Press
• ISSN: 0095-4470; 1095-8576
• DOI: 10.1016/S0095-4470(19)31019-8

Voice onset time (VOT) values for the six English and Spanish stops were measured for three Spanish speaking children, age four, seven, and ten years, who learned English as a second language. The two younger children had progressed normally in language development while the ten year old had a delayed onset. Spectrograms of ten tokens of each of six words in English and in Spanish were analyzed. VOT values in both languages for the younger children were significantly different. A developmental trend was noted in that the seven year old had acquired the Spanish prevoiced stops while the four year old employed the short lag range. Both had acquired the short lag range for voiceless Spanish stops. The ten year old language delayed child, however, employed the VOT values of English for the Spanish voicing categories.