Babbling and first words: Phonetic similarities and differences

Copyright (c) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. There is a strong consensus that the sounds and sound patterns of babbling and early speech are basically the same. The common state is one of ''Frame Dominance'' - a syllabic frame produced by an open-close mandibular oscillation dominates both stages, with limited ability of other articulators, including the tongue to produce active intrasyllabic and intersyllabic changes. The question of whether the first words are similar to babbling in all respects was evaluated in 4 subjects, using a database consisting of 152 hours of audio recording. A tendency towards increasing use of labial consonants relative to alveolar consonants was observed in 3 of the four subjects, and this was interpreted as a regression towards an easier production form. Progress in words took the form of an increase in variegation of utterances, mainly due to vowel variegation, much of which derived from an increase in the use of high vowels and mid back yowels, especially in wordfinal position. The presence of regression and the limited nature of the progress were taken as evidence of the strength of the Frame Dominance pattern and the consequent difficulty of escaping from it. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.