Phoneme Modification in the Speech of Central Kurdish Children: A Phonological Study

Abstract

This study looks into the articulation and modification of native Central Kurdish (CK henceforth) by preschool children aged three, four, and five. It investigates the order of acquiring the consonants and examines the modifications of the consonants that are not fully acquired. The study also aims to find out variation among the different age groups in terms of consonant articulation — if and how the younger children articulate the consonants differently from the older ones. Children’s acquisition of L1 (what is L1? This is first mention, give the full form) consonants is researched in many languages. Consonant articulation and modification is language-specific; it is important to examine the phenomenon in different languages and varieties. However, the review of the literature suggests that this topic is not studied in CK.  Therefore, 42 preschool children are examined in articulating the CK consonants in different word positions: initially, medially, and finally. Picture naming task is used as a data collection process. Results indicate that consonant accuracy significantly increases with age, with the most notable difference between three-year-olds and five-year-olds, while gender differences were not statistically significant. Loan consonants /ħ, ʕ/ and back consonants were modified most often, while fronting and coarticulation were the most prevalent modification processes observed.