Quick learning of novel vowel-consonant conjunctions within the mature speech production system – a commentary on Dell et al. (2019)

ABSTRACT

This is a commentary on a review article by Dell et al. (2019), “Tuning the blueprint: how studies of implicit learning during speaking reveal the information processing components of the production system”, doi: 10.1080/23273798.2019.1613553. The authors describe limitations for what can be learned in the mature language production system. In particular, they demonstrate how adult speech slowly adapts to novel vowel-contingent phonotactic constraints. A connectionist framework is proposed for which variability in learning outcomes may be explained by the availability of hidden units as a function of early linguistic experience. Here, we enclose data from French-speaking adults in which rapid phonotactic constraint learning of vowel-consonant conjunctions could be observed. The data fit within their proposal for hidden units in a connectionist model, where hidden units can be variously accessible, and suggest that not only maturation but also linguistic knowledge may affect how language learning abilities evolve throughout life.

KEYWORDS:

• Speech production
• implicit learning
• speech errors
• phonotactics
• hidden units

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The effect is specific to rimes and does not affect the pronunciation of consonants across syllables or words. For instance, the larger phrase petit lit (‘small bed’) would be produced as /pəti:li:/.