@article{NoirayAbakarovaRubertusetal.2018,
  author    = {Noiray, Aude and Abakarova, Dzhuma and Rubertus, Elina and Kr{\"u}ger, Stella and Tiede, Mark},
  title     = {How do children organize their speech in the first years of life?},
  series = {Journal of speech, language, and hearing research},
  volume    = {61},
  journal   = {Journal of speech, language, and hearing research},
  number    = {6},
  publisher = {American Speech-Language-Hearing Assoc.},
  address   = {Rockville},
  issn      = {1092-4388},
  doi       = {10.1044/2018_JSLHR-S-17-0148},
  pages     = {1355 -- 1368},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Purpose: This study reports on a cross-sectional investigation of lingual coarticulation in 57 typically developing German children (4 cohorts from 3.5 to 7 years of age) as compared with 12 adults. It examines whether the organization of lingual gestures for intrasyllabic coarticulation differs as a function of age and consonantal context. Method: Using the technique of ultrasound imaging, we recorded movement of the tongue articulator during the production of pseudowords, including various vocalic and consonantal contexts. Results: Results from linear mixed-effects models show greater lingual coarticulation in all groups of children as compared with adults with a significant decrease from the kindergarten years (at ages 3, 4, and 5 years) to the end of the 1st year into primary school (at age 7 years). Additional differences in coarticulation degree were found across and within age groups as a function of the onset consonant identity (/b/, / d/, and /g/). Conclusions: Results support the view that, although coarticulation degree decreases with age, children do not organize consecutive articulatory gestures with a uniform organizational scheme (e.g., segmental or syllabic). Instead, results suggest that coarticulatory organization is sensitive to the underlying articulatory properties of the segments combined.},
  language  = {en}
}