Title A Comparative Study of the Articulatory Development

Title A Comparative Study of the Articulatory Development of aNormal Infant and Infants with Cleft Palate.

Author(s) Nakazima, Sei; Hirano, Nobuko; Inoue, Miyuki; Kawano,Michio; Kuniyoshi, Kyoko; Mitamura, Keiko; Okawa, Hiromi

Citation 音声科学研究 (1988), 22: 1-19

Issue Date 1988

URL http://hdl.handle.net/2433/52496

Right

Type Departmental Bulletin Paper

Textversion publisher

Kyoto University

STUDIA PHONOLOGICA XXII (1988)

A Comparative Study of the Articulatory Development ofa Normal Infant and Infants with Cleft Palate

Sei NAKAZIMA, Nobuko HIRANO, Miyuki INOUE, Michio KAWANO,

Kyoko KUNIYOSHI, Keiko MITAMURA, Hiromi OKAWA

1. INTRODUCTION

We have reported the following observations of normal infants in previous

articles (Nakazima, S., 1962, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975). At about 1

month of age, infants begin to utter calm sounds at the babbling level, then

develop and organize their babbling phonatory-articulatory-auditory mechanisms,

and articulate almost every speech sound of their mother tongue, except some

fricatives, e. g. [s], [z], [~], [~], by the end of their repetitive babbling periods, i. e.

about 8 months. They begin to use meaningful words from about 1 year. From

about 1 year and 6 months, they begin to develop their phonemicization

symbolization processes, i. e. they begin to articulate vowels and consonants in

their mother tongue phonemical system.

Observing articulatory development in infants with cleft palate (Kajino, H. et

al., 1982" Kugo, S. et al., 1981, Nakazima, S. et al., 1986), we have reported that

both in the process of articulatory development of meaningless and meaningful

speech sounds, infants with cleft palate did not articulate most of dentals or

alveolars and articulated palatals instead.

In this article, we are going to observe:

1) the process of articulatory development in a normal infant, in order to make

clear whether or not the normal infant shows the same process of articulatory

development as that in infants with cleft palate mentioned above, whether or not

we should correct our previous observations on normal infants.

2) the process of articulatory development in infants with cleft soft palate and in

infants with cleft lip and palate, in order to make clear whether or not the process

of articulatory development in infants with cleft soft palate is different from that in

Sei NAKAZIMA, Ph. D. (r:p~ ~): Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychology, Kyoto University.Nobuko HIRANO (-'¥!f{§~) : Psychologist, Educational Service Room, Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.Miyuki INOUE (j:j:L ¥): Speech Therapist, Medical Center for Children, Moriyama, Shiga.Michio KAWANO (J11!f:im:;J() : Assistant Professor, Division of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine,Kyoto University.Kyoko KUNIYOSHI (OOE~ -f.): Speech Therapist, Institute for Mentally Retarded Children, Ikeda,Osaka.Keiko MITAMURA C::::EEHF,g:~): Research Fellow, Division of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine,Kyoto University.Hiromi OKAWA (::kJllt$~) : Former Research Fellow, Department of Psychology, 'Kyoto University.

2 Sei NAKAZIMA, Nobuko HIRANO, Miyuki INOUE, Michio KAWANO,Kyoko KUNIYOSHI, Keiko MITAMURA, Hiromi OKAWA

infants with cleft lip and palate.

II. PROCEDURES

As shown III Table 1, there were five subjects.

Table 1. Subjects and recording conditions.

SubjectsRecording Palatoplasty Beginning of Meaningful Words

(Year: Month) (Year: Month) (Year: Month)

S. 0.: a normal girl 0: 2-+2: 6 1: 1

Case A: a boy with 0: 6-+2: 7 1: 1 1 : 2cleft soft palate

Case B: a girl with 1 : 1-+2: 7 1: 9 1: 3cleft soft palate

Case C: a boy with 0:11-+2:6 1 : 2 1: 1cleft lip and palate

Case D: a girl with1 : 1-+2: 5 1: 6 1: 1

cleft lip and palate

S. 0.: a female infant who is normal in physical and mental development.

We asked her parents to record her speech sounds by a taperecorder at home,

once a month. Each recording lasted about 15 minutes. Her speech sounds were

recorded from the age of 2 months to 2 years and 6 months (Hirano, N. et ai.,

1989) .

Case A: a male infant with cleft soft palate. He underwent palatoplasty at

the age of 1 year and 1 month. His speech sounds were recorded from 6 months

to 2 years and 7 months.

Case B: a female infant with cleft soft palate. She underwent palatoplasty at

the age of 1 year and 9 months. Her speech sounds were recorded from 1 year

and 1 month to 2 years and 7 months.

Case C : a male infant with cleft lip and palate. He underwent palatoplasty

at the age of 1 year and 2 months. Her speech sounds were recorded from 11

months to 2 years and 6 months.

Case D: a female infant with cleft lip and palate. She underwent palato

plasty at the age of 1 year and 6 months. Her speech sounds were recorded from

1 year and 1 month to 2 years and 5 months.

Speech sounds of case A, B, C, and D were recorded by a taperecorder at the

Kyoto University Hospital and at their homes (Kuniyoshi, K. et ai., 1989).

We reproduced speech sounds of five subjects and transcribed them.

ill. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The following were our observations:

1. Development of articulation in the normal infant.

A Comparative Study of the Articulatory Development of a Normal Infant andInfants with Cleft Palate 3

1) Increase in number of speech sounds articulated.

We counted the number of speech sounds articulated by S. O. See Fig. 1.

The vertical line shows the number of speech sounds which she articulated during

the period of 15 minutes. The horizontal line shows her age. Circles show the

number of her meaningless speech sounds and triangles show the number of her

meaningful speech sounds. Solid lines show the periods during which her speech

sounds were recorded every month. Dashed lines show the period during which

her speech sounds were not recorded.

Not recorded

_ Meaningless speech sounds

............. Meaningful speech sounds

Recorded every month

700

600

300

400

500

200

100

Number900

800

0:6 1:0 1:6 2:0 2:6 Age

Fig. 1. Number of meaningless and meaningful speech sounds articulated by the normal infant.

(for 15 minutes)

Number of her meaningless speech sounds varied from 100 to 400, i. e. from a

few to many.

She began to utter meaningful speech sounds at 1 year and 1 month. At that

time the number of her meaningful speech sounds was about 20 .per 15 minutes.


From year and 6 months, the number increased. At 2 years and 6 months the

number reached about 900.

2) Development of articulation of meaningless speech sounds.

See Fig. 2. The vertical line shows the classification of speech sounds by the

points of articulation and the types of articulation. The upper portion of each line

shows voiceless, the lower voiced. The horizontal line shows her age. We

counted the number of each speech sound articulated by her for 15 minutes. The

dotted areas represent number from 1 to 4 (few), the slashed areas from 5 to 26

(moderate), and the blackened areas over 30 (many).

From 2 months on she uttered many glottal plosives [?].

At about 3-4 months she uttered some velars, i. e. nasals [D], plosives [k],

[g], and fricatives [y]. These sounds seemed to be produced when the back part

of her vocal tract was closed by chance.

Then she began her repetitive babbling period and articulated various speech

sounds actively.

At first, at about 5-7 month, she articulated some bilabials, i. e. nasals [m],

plosives [p], [b]. She opened and closed her mouth repeatedly and produced

these speech sounds actively.

Next, she began to use her tongue to articulate nasals, plosives, fricatives, and

affricates. At first she could not move her tongue differentiatedly and moved it

rather as a whole. She touched her hard palate and alveolar with the middle part

of her tongue. At about 6-8 months, she articulated some palatals, i. e. nasals [Jl],

plosives [c], [J]. And at about 6-8 months, she articulated some alveolo-palatals,

i. e. affricates [t~], [d?].

Then, she differentiated her tongue movement at the back of her mouth and

touched her soft palate with the back part of her tongue. From about 1 year on

she once again articulated some velars, i. e. nasals [D], plosives [k], [g].

At last, she differentiated her tongue movement at the front and touched her

teeth or alveolar ridge with the front part of her tongue. After 1 year and 6

months, she articulated dentals or alveolars, i. e. some plosives [t], and after 2

years some other plosives [d].

Her repetitive babbling period was from 5 to 8 months. During this period

she articulated a few velar plosives [k], [g], and a few dentals or alveolars, i. e.

nasals [n], plosives [t], [d]. She articulated some palatals, i.e. nasals [Jl], plosives

[c], [J], instead. In formar articles, described previously, we have stated that

infants articulated almost every speech sound of their mother tongue, except some

fricatives, by the end of their repetitive babbling period. We think that we

mistook some palatals as velars, others as dentals or alveolars. As a matter of

fact, some palatals are very similar to velars, others to dentals or alveolars.

We would like to correct our earlier observations and say as follows:

>;:;.ri"c~0~

zo

Se:..:::~a..,:::0..

u(")

<(")

0-'"03(")

ao-,..,

;->~:::(")[;io

~ 3~.]::r""'..,(")0....... <(") (")

~I./l

'i:! ......, C...... 0..~'<(") 0-,

;-(")

2:6Age2:01:61:00:6

Meaningless speech sounds : ~ .1-4 ~5-29_30- (for 15 minutes).

nasal m bllml I II IIbilabial

plosive p II II II IIb II II ~1!111

fricative P IIp III

semi-vowel w mil II II II IInasal n III

dental plosive t III II IIor d I I 11M III II

alveolar affricate ts

dz

fricative s 1111z I I ijiil

flapped r Iaffricate tj;; I II 111111 II •1111 II III

alveolo-d;r. 11111 111111 I II II IIIpalatal

fricative j;; II I IW~ II;r.

palatalnasal P II .. Iplosive c I I

Jfricative C;

semi-vowel j

velarnasal Dplosive k ~I II. II

9 III II 81fricative x ilirn

y

glottalplosive ? •III •II I •• • ••fricative h II 11111 II 11111 II 1111 II ••- - - - - .-

Fig. 2. Development of articulation of meaningless speech sounds articulated by the normal infant. (for 15 minutes) (Jl

6Sei NAKAZIMA, Nobuko HIRANO, Miyuki INOUE, Michio KAWANO,


During her repetitive babbling period, the infant articulated some bilabials,

palatals, and alveolo-palatals. In this period the articulatory movement of her

tongue was not differentiated. She articulated a few velars and dentals or alveo

lars. After this period the articulatory movement of her tongue differentiated.

And after I year she articulated some velars, and after I year and 6 months some

dentals or alveolars.

3) Development of articulation of meaningful speech sounds.

We show both the developmental process of her articulation of meaningless

and meaningful speech sounds in Fig. 3. Signs are the same as those in Fig. 2.

The first half of each month shows meaningless speech sounds, last half meaning

ful speech sounds.

She began to use meaningful words from I year and I month.

From the beginning of her meaningful speech sounds on, she still sometimes

articulated some glottal plosives [?].

After I year and 6 months, she articulated some bilabials, i.e. nasals [m],

plosives [p], [b]. As for meaningless speech sounds, she articulated some bilabials

from about 6 months. Almost I year later, she began to articulate bilabials of

meaningful speech sounds.

As for palatals, from I year and 5 months, she articulated some voiceless

plosives [c], from I year and 7 months articulated some nasals [Jl], and from 2

years articulated some voiced plosives [}].

As for alveolo-palatals, from I year and 5 months, she articulated some voice

less affricates [t~], and from 2 years and I month articulated some voiced affricates

[d?I].

She articulated palatals and alveolo-palatals of meaningless speech sounds at

6-8 months. Then almost I year or more later, she began to articulate palatals

and alveolo-palatals of meaningful speech sounds.

As for velars, from I year and 8 months, she articulated some voiceless

plosives [k], from I year and 10 months articulated some voiced plosives [g], and

from 2 years articulated some nasals [D].

She articulated velars of meaningless speech sounds from I year and 2

months. Almost 6 months later, she began to articulate velars of meaningful

speech sounds.

As for dentals or alveolars, from 2 years she articulated some voiceless plo

sives [t], from 2 years and I month articulated some nasals [n], and from 2 years

and 3 months articulated some voiced plosives [d].

She articulated dentals or alveolars of meaningless speech sounds from about

I year and 6 months. Almost 6 month later, she began to articulate dentals or

alveolars of meaningful speech sounds.

Our observations were as follows:

bilabial I nasa~ I~ploslve

b

fricative I 1J

;->-

13

~::lQ

semi-vowel

fijo

w~ ;3

nasal n

..... '"0,","Pl

dental

::l"''"1

plosive

Pl

t

Q c.

or

-<

d

('b ('b

alveolar

;::::>cn

affricate ts

""d'"'"Pl C

dz

_0..Pl'<

fricative I s

(bo.....,

z

8-('b

flapped r>-

affricate

::4.

alveolo-

ri'c

palatal

;-

fricative

0'"1

'<

0('b

palatal

<('b

0''"0;3

fricative

('b

g

semi-vowel

0.....,

nasal

Pl

velar

~

plosive

0'"1

;3

fricative I

e.

x;-

y~

glottal?

gPl

h

::l0..

-0 -. _ ~5-29 _30- (for 15 minutes). Meaningful speech sounds: GEJI-4 .5-29 _30- (for 15 minutes).I , d ms4j t%1 l%%1 1%%1 tam iii I i ~······i i;iffi&~ •••ii¥i j m t·····-l

Fig, 3. Development of articulation of meaningless and meaningful speech sounds articulated by the normal infant. (for 15 minutes)-...J

8Sei NAKAZIMA, Nobuko HIRANO, Miyuki INOUE, Michio KAWANO,


From about 1 year the infant began to use meaningful words. From about 1

year and 6 months, like other infants, she began to develop her phonemicization

symbolization process, i. e. she began to articulate consonants in her mother ton

gue phonemical system. From the early period of her phonemicization process,

she articulated bilabials. At that period she articulated palatals, and alveolo

palatals in place of velars and dentals or alveolars. Then after 1 year and 8

months, she articulated velars, and after 2 years articulated dentals or alveolars.

The developmental process of her tongue articulatory movement of meaningful

speech sounds was the same as that of meaningless speech sounds.

Almost 1 year after beginning to articulate meaningless bilabials, palatals,

alveolo-palatals, she articulated these speech sounds as meaningful, and almost 6

months after beginning to articulate meaningless velars, dentals or alveolars, she

articulated these speech sounds as meaningful.

2. Development of articulation in infants with cleft palate.

1) Increase in number of speech sounds articulated.

See Fig. 4. Fig. 4-1, case A: a male infant with cleft soft palate; Fig. 4-2,

case B : a female infant with cleft soft palate; Fig. 4-3, case C : a male infant with

cleft lip and palate; Fig, 4-4, case D: a female infant with cleft lip and palate.

Signs are the same as those in Fig. 1.

The numbers of their meaningless speech sounds varied from 50 to 700, i. e.

from only a few to many.

After 1 year, they began to use meaningful words. The numbers of their

meaningful speech sounds increased after 1 year and 6 months, especially after 2

years.

As far as these data are concerned, we did not find any difference either

between the normal infant and infants with cleft palate, or between infants with

cleft soft palate and infants with cleft lip and palate. However, at about 2 years

and 6 months, while the number of meaningful speech sounds articulated by the

normal infant reached about 900, the number of those articulated by infants with

cleft palate reached about 600 or less.

2) Development of articulation of meaningless speech souads.· See Fig. 5.

Fig. 5-1, case A: a male infant with cleft soft palate; Fig. 5-2, case B: a female

infant with cleft soft palate; Fig. 5-3, case C: a male infant with cleft lip and

palate; Fig. 5-4, case D : a female infant with cleft lip and palate. Signs are the

same as those in Fig. 3.

Case A: a male infant with cleft soft palate. Before plalatoplasty, at 6

months, he uttered many bilabial nasals [m], some velar nasals [U], velar plosives

[k], velar fricatives [x], [Y], and many glottal plosives [1].

A Comparative Study of the Articulatory Development of a Normal Infant andInfants with Cleft Palate

9

Number

700

.-..... Meaningless speech sounds

600 ~ Meaningful speech sounds


Not recorded500

400

300

200

100

2:6 Age2:00:6 1:0 1:6

tPalatoplasty

Fig. 4-1. Number of meaningless and meaningful speech sounds articulated by case A: a male

infant with cleft soft palate. (for 15 minutes)

Number

700

600


~ Meaningful speech sounds


Not recorded

500

~ ,.400 \

\ I

\,

\ ,',\ I I\ 1/300 \\ II..,

II

, I......200

......

......'--.. I'/1,, I,, I ,

100 ' I I'tI',,

I.-----_ ....--....0:6 1:0 1:6 2:0 2:6 Age

tPala'toplasty

Fig. 4-2. Number of meaningless and meaningful speech sounds articulated by case B: a female

infant with cleft soft palate. (for 15 minutes)


Number

700

e---e Meaningless speech sounds


Recorded every month\

Not recorded \600 \

\\\\ •500 \\ I\

II

\ I\ I

400 \ I\ I\ I\ I

300

\~ ,I \

200

--I \ I

\/ / \ /.. I I/ I

100 I I

.-~ /

0:6 1:0 1:6 2:0 2:6 Age

tPalatoplasty

Fig. 4-3. Number of meaningless and meaningful speech sounds articulated by case C: a male

infant with cleft lip and palate. (for 15 minutes)

Number

700

600




Not recorded

500

400

300

200

100

..,'..../1

/ ,"""" ,/ I

// I

... ", I

" i-.I II I, II I

I '. ,,'~ ,

" ':" IJ' ,,~ 1 '' ..'( '",-,' '1&.'

2:6 Age2:01:00:6 1:6

tPalatoplasty

Fig. 4-4. Number of meaningless and meaningful speech sounds articulated by case D: a female

infant with cleft lip and palate. (for 15 minutes)

0:6 1:0 1:6 2:0 2:6Aget

Palatoplasty

Fig. 5-1. Development of articulation of meaningless and meaningful speech sounds articulated by case A: a male infant with cleft soft palate.

(for 15 minutes)

Meaningless speech sounds: _5-29 _30- (for 15 minutes). Meaningful speech sounds: [5]1-4 _5-29 _30- (for 15 minutes).

m

p

b4>

P illw

n

k I I I I I ~ I I I I I I I I I I I I •

tl('b

<:('b

0-'i:IS('b

~o.....,~

~o

3e:.=~~~=0..

>::4r:;.~

~8~

;->~=n1ijo

~ S~.]

=-'"'~n C._<:('b ('b

::::>r:fJ

~ ....~ ~_0..a-<:('b 0.....,

:;-('b

~r

I

r:~I-'_+---+_+--+--1

::::::

$x

9

y

?

h

j;:

~

J1

c

J<;

j

U

sz

dts

tj;:

d~

dz

· nasalbilabIal~p OSIve

fricative

semi-vowel

nasaldental plosiveor

alveolar I affricate

fricative

flappedaffricate

alveolo-palatal

, fricative

palatal I nasalplosive

fricativesemi-vowel

velarnasalplosive

fricative

glottalI Dlosiv~

I fricative

Meaningless speech sounds : ~5-29 _30- (for 15 minutes). Meaningful speech sounds: !ill2l1-4 .5-29 _30- (for 15 minutes),

enn.

;::;

Z:;::::>-

6~:>;--o s:::>-:;:::~

c Z2 0

~g"en :>;-::5 0

~:;::: e::n.g';:>;-2o ~o

~~.., _.:>-'<s:: .::c::'i::>:i:>- ~ 2

::r::g_.t'"..., ~

o3~

o~~ o'~~

~2~o

j}II

•

•--

r

~t~

~~~r

f.....:I _+--+_

m~

:t~tr

~

Y I • I • I

j;)

zs

x

P I I l

d

tj;)

ts

ml I I I I I I I I I I I 11111 111m IIJm I.

d~

dz

. nasalbilabIal~p OSlVe

fricative

--semi-vowel

nasaldental plosiveor

alveolar I affricate

fricative

flappedaffricate

alveolo-palatal

, fricative

---palatal I nasal

plosive

fricativesemi-vowel

velarnasalplosive

fricative

glottalplosivefricative

0:6t

Palatoplasty

Fig. 5-3. Development of articulation of meaningless and meaningful speech sounds articulated by case C : a male infant with cleft .lip and pal

ate. (for 15 minutes)

t~~1 I I I I I::IhP1-t-ffI

tl(1l

<(1l

0""0:3(1l

go-,~

zo

Se:.

;:;;

>~.

(i'>=~8"~

::0~g~

::0I:l.

5'>~::00[;j0

~ :3~''B::r"'"l

~

0 0 .-<(1l (1l

~ [/l"'0 ....~ >=_I:l.~'<

no-,:;:-(1l

~t

.I~

t:::I:::::;

:~~r

••

fricative

semi-vowel w

nasal ndental plosive tor d

alveolar affricate tsdz

fricative sz

flapped

affricate I tGalveolo- I

d~palatal rfricative j;l

-~

palatalI nasal J1

I plosive cr--

Jfricative <;

semi-vowel j

velarnasal U

r plosive kI----

9fricative x

-y

glottalolosivp ?

I fricative I h

Meaningless speech sounds :

illbilabial p

--+--+-+--+---+-+---+-----j--t------t--I-----t------t--r-_I-ifliiij_-tb~

~

bilabialnasalplosive

Meaningless speech sounds: "1-4 "5-29 _30- (for 15 minutes). Meaningful speech sounds: QillI-4 _5-29 _30- (for 15 minutes).m

p

b I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

:;

fricative IRIHH----t--t-+-+-H-+--+-+--+-+-+-+.J--+fhHm-+----+---+----+---+-U

[/J

c.

11

@

!ill11

z~~

'< »a N:>';"-

a ~

~Zz a-0"

9~:x: av- ::r:~c.~:>';"za va

~~=1-.<'» c;:::>';"c: _.

~~::r:§_.t'j

~~~.r;.

02:;.:: a»:E~» »

:E»zvO

0:6 1 :0 1 :6 2 :0 2 :6 Aget

Palatoplasty

Fig. 5-4. Development of articulation of meaningless and meaningful speech sounds articulated by case D: a female infant with cleft lip and

palate. (for 15 minutes)

A Comparative Study of the Articulatory Development of a Normal Infant andInfants with Cleft· Palate 15

He underwent palatoplasty at I year and I month.

I month after the operation, from I year and 2 months, he articulated many

bilabial plosives [p], [b].

From I year and 5 months, he articulated some palatals, i. e. nasals [Jl] ,plo

sives [c], [J], at I year and 6 months, some alveolo-palatal affricates [tc].

From I year and 9 months, he articulated some velars, i.e. plosives [k], [g]

once again.

Even at 2 years and 7 months, he did not articulate dentals or alveolars.

Case B : a female infant with cleft soft palate. Before palatoplasty, at I year

and I month, she uttered some palatal plosives [c], some velars, i. e. nasals En],

plosives [k], [g], fricatives [x], [Y], and some glottal plosives [?].

She underwent palatoplasty at I year and 9 months.

Just after the operation, at 1 year and 9 months, she articulated some dental

or alveolar plosives Ed], some palatal plosives [c], and some velar nasals [D]. At

2 years, she articulated some bilabial nasals Em], and some palatal nasals [Jl], and

at that time articulated some velar plosives [k], [g] once again. At 2 years and 7

months, she articulated some bilabial plosives [p], [b], some alveolo-palatal

affricates [t~], and some dental or alveolar plosives [t].

Case C : a male infant with cleft lip and palate. Before palatoplasty, at 11

months, he uttered some bilabial nasals [m], and many glottal plosives [I].

He underwent palatoplasty at 1 year and 2 months.

One to two months after the operation, at 1 year and 3-4 months, he articu

lated some bilabials, i. e. nasals Em], plosives [p], [b], some palatals, i. e. nasals

[Jl], plosives [c], [}], some alveolo-palatal affricates [t~], and some velar plosives

[k]. At 2 years and I month, he articulated some velars, i. e. nasals [D], and

plosives [g]. But even at 2 years and 6 months, he did not articulate dentals or

alveolars.

Case D : a female infant with cleft lip and palate. Before palatoplasty, at I

year and 1 month, she uttered some bilabial nasals Em], some velar plosives [k],

and many glottal plosives [?].

She underwent palatoplasty at I year and 6 months.

I month after the operation, at 1 year and 7 months, she articulated some

bilabial nasals Em], and many glottal plosives [1]. At I year and 10 months, she

articulated some palatals, i. e. nasals [Jl], plosives [c], and some velar nasals [D].

Even at 2 years and 5 months, she did not articulate bilabial plosives [p], [b],

dentals or alveolars [n], [t] , [d].

As for case A, B, and C, before palatoplasty, some of them uttered bilabial

nasals [m], palatal nasals [Jl], velar nasals [D], velar plosives [k], [g], and glottal

plosives [1]. After the operation, they articulated bilabial plosives [p], [b], pala

tal plosives [c] ([J]), alveolo-palatal affricates [tG], and articulated velar plosives

[k], [g] again. Most of them, at 2 years and 6 months, did not articulate dental


or alveolar plosives [t], [d].

We observed that infants with cleft palate began their articulatory develop

ment of meaningless speech sounds after palatoplasty and followed almost the

same developmental process as that of the normal infant. They, at first, articu

lated bilabials, and almost at the same time articulated palatals and alveolo

palatals, followed by velars. Most of them could not articulate dentals or alveo

lars at 2 years and 6 months. We did not find any difference between case A, B,

and Case C.

As for case D, she seemed to have incompetence in velopharyngeal function.

3) Development of articulation of meaningful speech sounds.

See Fig. 5. Case A: a male infant with cleft soft palate (Fig. 5-1). He began

to use meaningful words from I year and 2 months. 4-5 months after palatoplas

ty, at 1 year and 5-6 months, he articulated some bilabials, i. e. nasals [m],

plosives [p], [b], and some palatals, i. e. nasals [Jl], plosives [c], [}]. At 1 year

and 9 months, he articulated some velar plosives [k], at 2 years and 1 month,

some alveolo-palatals, i. e. affricates [tp], fricatives [p], at 2 years and 7 months,

some dental or alveolar nasals [n], plosives [t], and some velar nasals [D], plosives

[g]. From 1 year and 6 months on, he articulated some glottal plosives [?], but

at 2 years and 7 months he articulated them less frequently.

Case B : a female infant with cleft soft palate (Fig. 5-2). She began to use

meaningful words from 1 year and 3 months. Just after palatoplasty, at 1 year

and 9 months, she articulated some palatal plosives[c], and some glottal plosives

[?]. At 2 years she articulated some velar plosives [k], at 2 years and 3 months,

some bilabial plosives [p], at 2 years and 7 months, some bilabial nasals [m],

plosives [b], some dental or alveolar fricatives [s], some alveolo-palatal affricates

[tc], fricatives [p], some palatal nasals [Jl], plosives [}], and some velar nasals [D],

plosives [g]. From 1 year and 9 months on, she articulated some glottal plosives

[?], but at 2 years and 7 months, she did not articulate them any more.

Case C : a male infant with cleft lip and palate (Fig. 5-3). He began to use

meaningful words from I year and 1 month. 1 month before palatoplasty, at 1

year and 1 month, he articulated many palatal nasals [Jl]. At I year and 4

months, he articulated some palatal plosives [f], at 1 year and 5 months, some

bilabial nasals [m], plosives [p], and some palatal plosives [c], at 2 years, some

bilabial plosives [b], some alveolo-palatal affricates [tp], and some velar plosives

[g], at 2 years and 6 months, some dental or alveolar plosives [t], and some velar

nasals [D]. From I year and 1 month on, he articulated some glottal plosives [2],

but after 2 years and 2 months, he articulated them less frequently.

Following was observed in case A, B, and C. Zero or several months after

palatoplasty, from about I year and 6 months, they began to develop their

phonemicization processes, almost at the same age as the normal infant did. At


first, they articulated bilabials and palatals. Next, they articulated velars and

alveolo-palatals. At last they articulated dentals or alveolars. The developmental

processes of meaningful speech sound articulation in infants with cleft palate were

almost the same as that in the normal infant. As for the developmental processes

of articulation of meaningful speech sounds we did not find any difference between

case A, B, and case C.

At the same age or several months before the age of articulation of meaningful

speech sounds, they articulated these speech sounds as meaningless. The time

intervals between their ages of articulation of meaningless speech sounds and their

ages of articulation of meaningful speech sounds were shorter than that of the

normal infant.

At 2 years and 5-7 months, they articulated fewer kinds of speech sounds than

those of the normal infant.

Case D : a female infant with cleft lip and palate (Fig. 5-4). She began to use

meaningful words from I year and I month. 5 months before palatoplasty, at I

year and I month, she articulated some bilabial nasals [m], and some glottal

plosives [?]. At I year and 5 months, she articulated some palatal nasals [p], and

many velar plosives [k], at 2 years and I month, some velar nasals [U], and at 2

years and 5 months, some palatal plosives [}]. At 2 years and 5 months, she

articulated many glottal plosives [?], but articulated only a few bilabial plosives

[p], [b], dentals or alveolars [n], [t], [d], alveolo-palatals [t.c], [d~], and palatal

plosives [c]. She seemed to have incompetence in velopharyngeal function.

N. SUMMARY

We described the developmental processes of articulation of meaningless and

meaningful speech sounds in I normal female infant, in 1 male and I female infant

with cleft soft palate, and in 1 male and I female infant with cleft lip and palate.

We described nasals, plosives, fricatives, and affricates.

1. From the beginning of her repetitive babbling period, i. e. from 5 months,

the normal female infant articulated meaningless speech sounds actively. At first,

she articulated bilabial nasals [m], and plosives [p], [b].

Next, she began to use her tongue to articulate nasals, plosives, and affricates.

At first, the articulatory movement of her tongue was not differentiated. She

moved her tongue as a whole. The middle part of her tongue touched at hard

palate and alveolar, and produced palatal nasals [p], plosives [c], [t], and alveolo

palatal affricates [t.c] , [dz). Then, after I year she differentiated her tongue

movement at the back part, and articulated velar nasals [U], plosives [k], [9]. At

last, after I year and 6 months, she differentiated her tongue movement at the

front part, and articulated dental or alveolar nasals [n], plosives [t], [d].


2. The infants with cleft soft palate and the infants with cleft lip and palate

began to develop their articulation of meaningless speech sounds after palatoplas

ty. The processes of their articulation development were almost the same as that

of the normal infant, described above. But most of them could not articulate

dentals or alveolars by 2 years and 5-7 months. We did not find any difference

between the infants with cleft soft palate and the infants with cleft lip and palate.

The female infant with cleft lip and palate was the exception. She seemed to have

incompetence in velopharyngeal function.

3. The normal infant began to use meaningful words from about I year.

The number of her meaningful speech sounds increased from I year and 6 months.

The infants with cleft soft palate and the infants with cleft lip and palate, except

the female infant, showed almost the same developmental processes as that of the

normal infant. But the number of their meaningful speech sounds, at 2 years and

5-7 months, were smaller than that by the normal infant.

4. The normal infant began to develop her phonemicization process from I

year and 6 months. The developmental process of her tongue articulatory move

ment of meaningful speech sounds was the same as that of meaningless speech

sounds. Almost I year after the age of articulation of meaningless bilabials,

palatals, alveolo-palatals, she articulated meaningful bilabials, palatals, and

alveolo-palatals. Almost 6 months after the age of articulation of meaningless

velars, dentals or alveolars, she articulated meaningful velars, dentals or alveolars.

5. The infants with cleft soft palate and the infants with cleft lip and palate,

except the female infant, began to develop their phonemicization processes, just

after or several months after palatoplasty, i. e. from about I year and 6 months,

almost at the same age as the normal infant did. And their developmental

plocesses of meaningful speech sounds were almost the same as that in the normal

infant. We did not find any difference between the developmental process of

meaningful speech sounds in the infants with cleft soft palate and that in the

infants with cleft lip and palate, except the female infant.

At the same age or several months before the age of articulation of meaningful

speech sounds, they articulated these speech as meaningless. The time intervals

beween their ages of articulation of meaningless speech sounds and their ages of

articulation of meaningful speech sounds were shorter than that of the normal

infant.

At about 2 years and 6 months, they articulated fewer kinds of speech sounds

than the normal infant.

REFERENCES

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2. Kajino, H., Nakazima, S., Kawano, M., Hagio, F., Yamada, M., Isshiki, N., Ikeda, Y. 1982


Physical, mental and language development of an infant girl with cleft lip and palate. The Annals of

Kurashiki Central Hospital, Vol. 51, 33-43.

3. Kugo, S., Kawano, M., Hagio, F., Isshiki, N., Nakazima, S., Kajino, H., Ikeda, Y. 1982 A male

infant with cleft lip and palate; A case report on physical, mental and language development and

guidance. The Annals of Kurashiki Central Hospital, Vol. 51, 9-23.

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8. Nakazima, S. 1972 A comparative study of the speech development of japanese and American

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symbolization, and the syntacticization processes -. Studia Phonologica, VIII, 1-22.

II. Nakazima, S. 1975 Phonemicization and symbolization in language development. In E. H. Len

neberg & E. Lenneberg (Eds.), Foundations of language development, Vol. 1. Academic Press, 181-187.

12. Nakazima, S., Kuniyoshi, K., Kawano, M. 1986 Development of articulation in infants with cleft

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Documents

Title A Comparative Study of the Articulatory Development