Nine-Month-Olds' Attention to Sound Similarities in Syllables

Nine-month-old English-learners' sensitivity to intrasyllabic constituents was explored in seven experiments using the Headturn Preference Procedure. In each experiment, the infants were exposed to two types of lists of CVC syllables. Items in the experimental lists shared a particular phonetic property, whereas items in the control lists were unrelated. The findings indicated that 9-month-olds are sensitive to shared features that occur at the beginnings, but not at the ends of syllables. Specifically, the infants had significant listening preferences for lists in which the items shared either initial CV's, initial C's, or the same manner of articulation at syllable onsets. The findings suggest that infants may first develop sensitivity to internal commonalties that occur at the beginnings of syllables.