Sonority and the acquisition of /s/ clusters in children with phonological disorders

Abstract

The structure of /s/-clusters has been a rather controversial subject due to their structural oddities. Studies on the acquisition of these clusters have contributed to the discussion to validate certain theoretical claims, and sonority-related issues have always been in focus. Cross-linguistic acquisition data from children with phonological disorders can provide further testing ground for several unsettled matters regarding their syllabification.

Keywords:

• /s/-clusters
• sonority
• disordered phonology

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Notes

1. For a complete list, see Parker (2002).

2. It should be pointed out, however, that a dispute exists with respect to the relative order of voiced stops and voiceless fricatives. Some consider voiced stops more sonorous (Jespersen, 1904; Bolinger, 1962; Boersma, 1998), while others rank voiceless fricatives higher (Selkirk, 1984; Durand, 1990; Gnanadesikan, 1997). Yet, there are others who treat these two groups of sounds equal in sonority index (Venneman, 1972; Hooper, 1976; Larson, 1990).

3. Although glides are not included in the hierarchy, their place in the order is rather predictable. They can be given the same sonority values with the high vowels because they are the non-syllabic versions of the latter. Affricates, which are also missing in the table, can be placed between stops and fricatives.

4. For a different analysis of initial /s/ clusters, via government phonology, see Pan and Snyder (2004).