A Distinctive Feature Analysis of Children’s Misarticulations

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Abstract
The articulation of 10 children with severe misarticulations was subjected to a feature analysis. The 13 distinctive features of English phonology as proposed by Jakobson, Fant, and Halle (1952) and Chomsky and Halle (1968) were used for the study. Phonetic transcriptions of responses on the McDonald Deep Test of Articulation formed the basis for the analysis. Two sets of data were compiled: the children’s feature systems in comparison to the English system and a traditional articulation evaluation of phoneme articulation. Results indicated that children’s feature errors were consistent across phonemes which contained the feature. It was further determined that misarticulations can be only partially described as a function of absence of features. Many of the errors occurred in the way features were used in particular combinations or contexts by the children. Errors resulted when children applied rules for feature usage which were different from the phonological rules in English. It is suggested that a distinctive feature analysis may offer a more efficient approach to articulation training.

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