Infant Speech: Vowel And Consonant Frequency

Abstract
95 infants from birth to 2.5 yrs. were studied, in deriving equations for vowel and consonant frequencies during these yrs. Two equations are needed to express vowel frequency development. The 1st, which includes the first 2 yrs. of life, is Vf = .69A + 51.8. The 2d equation is Vf = 11.78.42.5. The equation derived from the means of consonant frequency is Cf = 12.5e0124A. This is an exponential curve. Throughout the first 30 months of life the frequency of vowel sounds exceeds consonant sounds. At the first bimonthly period vowel sounds occur about 5 times more frequently than consonants, and not until the last 2-month period are they approx. the same. The processes of development for vowel and consonant frequency are radically different. It is reasonable to assume that these 3 equations express the laws of phonemic frequency development during infancy.

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