Experimental Validation of OT Solutions to the Comprehension–Production Dilemma

Abstract

The relationship between perception and production remains an unresolved issue within the study of phonological acquisition. Recent developments in optimality theory offer potentially new solutions to this long‐standing problem; but thus far, the proposals that have been advanced are in the absence of actual perception–production data from a given child. This paper provides an empirical instantiation of the perception–production effects by appealing to data from children's knowledge and use of syllables and segments. The demonstration shows that optimality theoretic accounts of the perception–production interface hold in part, but a crucial modification is required in order to obtain the full range of effects that are observed in phonological acquisition.

• Optimality theory
• perception
• production
• phonological acquisition