The acquistition of Xhosa phonemes

Abstract

<p>Early development has been the focus of considerable research in the past few decades.However, only minimal information has been obtained on the phonological developmentamong the speakers of Southern African indigenous languages, most particularly Xhosa.</p><p>This study is based on corpus collected from 10 Xhosa-speaking children aged J 2 to 36months, for the period of J2 months, recording their spontaneous vocalisations. Languageand speech acquisition of Xhosa does not seem to follow the patterns of many Indo Europeanlanguages studied. Xhosa possesses a large repertoire of phenomenon, such as clicks, whichare unknown in other languages. The similarities and differences in existing data on otherlanguages and their significance for professions such as Speech-Therapy and Education areidentified and discussed.</p><p>Die afgelope paar dekades het 'n aansienlike hoeveelheid navorsing die fokus veral op vroeetaalontwikkeling laat val. Baie min inligting is egter ingewin oor die fonologieseontwikkeling van sprekers van die inheemse tale van Suidelike Afrika, veral van Xhosa.</p><p>Die artikel gee in hooflrekke 'n oorsig oor navorsing wat oor 'n tydperk van J2 maande op10 Xhosasprekende kinders tussen die ouderdomme 12 en 36 maande gedoen is. Diespontane klankuitinge van die kinders is gedurende hierdie tydperk opgeneem. Dievoorlopige bevindinge gee te kenne dat dit nie lyk asof taalverwerwing van uitlatings inXhosa dieselfde patrone volg as baie Indo-Europese tale wat bestudeer is nie. Xhosa het 'nlrye repertoire verskynsels, soos klikgeluide, wat onbekend is in Indo-Europese tale.</p><p>Hierdie artikel identifiseer en bespreek ooreenkomste en verskille wat tydens hierdienavorsing vasgestel is asook bestaande data oor ander tale. Dit dui ook op die belang vanhierdie navorsing vir professies soos Spraakterapie en die Onderlrys.</p

Phonological development of first language isiXhosa-speaking children aged 3;0–6;0 years: A descriptive cross-sectional study

“…Research shows that isiXhosa speaking children acquire many of their phonemes early. This seems to be consistent in the few studies that have been done on isiXhosa (Gxilishe, 2004;Mowrer & Burger, 1991;Tuomi et al, 2001). As the majority of these studies have been longitudinal and/or single case studies focused mainly on the development of the click consonants, it is difficult to get a full understanding of the acquisition process in isiXhosa, including all the consonants, vowels, syllable structures and phonological processes of the language.…”

“…Although investigations into some of the Bantu languages have been carried out (e.g. Sesotho-Demuth, 1992;Siswati-Kunene, 1979;isiZulu-Naidoo et al, 2003) findings from these studies cannot be generalised to other Bantu languages (Tuomi et al, 2001). While some common attributes are shared among this language family, each language has different phonological and morphological systems (Pascoe & Smouse, 2012).…”

“…While some common attributes are shared among this language family, each language has different phonological and morphological systems (Pascoe & Smouse, 2012). Information about isiXhosa phonological acquisition is important for SLTs as it can help identify the differences between typically developing and disordered/delayed speech development within this population (Tuomi, Gxilishe & Matomela, 2001). In order to appropriately assess child phonology, such information is vital.…”

“…Even so, it can be seen that some valuable information regarding isiXhosa phonology has been gathered. These studies have looked at the phonological development of children as young as 1;0 (Conradie, Jeggo, Purchase, Rosewall & Winfield, 2011;Gxilishe, 2004;Lewis, 1994 andTuomi et al, 2001) and thus some information can be obtained about the earliest stages of speech production. In general, the research focused on the order of development of consonants and vowels as well as clicks (Gxilishe, 2004;Lewis, 1994;Mowrer & Burger, 1991;Tuomi et al, 2001).…”

“…These studies have looked at the phonological development of children as young as 1;0 (Conradie, Jeggo, Purchase, Rosewall & Winfield, 2011;Gxilishe, 2004;Lewis, 1994 andTuomi et al, 2001) and thus some information can be obtained about the earliest stages of speech production. In general, the research focused on the order of development of consonants and vowels as well as clicks (Gxilishe, 2004;Lewis, 1994;Mowrer & Burger, 1991;Tuomi et al, 2001). The more recent studies (Conradie et al, 2011;Fish et al, 2012) are small scale, exploratory studies which have attempted to detail the development of a small number of children in terms of syllable structure development, phonological processes and overall speech processing.…”