Cue-weighting and (indivi)dual pathways to the acquisition of vowel height contrasts: The F0 and F1 routes

This paper explores cue-weighting in the production of vowel height contrasts in children’s first words. Specifically, it investigates the role of the first formant (F1) and the fundamental frequency (F0) in signalling these contrasts and how their use develops alongside lexical development. Over 12,000 high and low vowels were acoustically analysed for F0 and F1 in the spontaneous speech of 30 Dutch-speaking children. Particular attention is paid to the developmental trajectories of both cues and to the between-children variability in cue-weighting. The results provide a detailed picture of developmental trends in the production of primary and secondary acoustic cues in spontaneous early speech. Overall, the findings indicate that children gradually use primary (F1) and secondary (F0) cues more actively as their vocabulary expands. The results also suggest that children exhibit some degree of control over the production of the secondary F0 cue. Finally, the analyses reveal large inter-individual variability, with children following different developmental trajectories in their acquisition of phonetic secondary cues.