Markedness and Context Effects in the Acquisition of Place Features

Empirical and theoretical claims about the markedness of place features and associated context effects are evaluated against the facts of acquisition. The primary focus is on the segmental inventories and substitution patterns of young children with phonological delays (ages 3;0-8;6). Results are reported from a large scale cross-sectional archival study of 211 children. Additionally, two especially challenging case studies are singled out for consideration. A typological account of the cross-sectional variation is formulated in optimality theoretic terms and requires permutable rankings of place-referring constraints. Consideration is also given to the different statistical trends along with a comparison of developing and fully developed languages.