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Although group studies provide necessary information about the range and frequency of phenomena in phonological development, individual profiles (case studies) can be used to describe entire phonological systems in detail. Profiles from different languages can highlight similarities and differences across languages that may be less obvious in group studies. The current issue presents profiles of children with protracted phonological development (PPD: speech sound disorders) from 16 languages (Akan, Kuwaiti Arabic, Bulgarian, Canadian English, Farsi, Canadian French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Japanese, Mandarin, Polish, European Portuguese, Slovenian, Granada Spanish, Swedish). Utilising a constraints-based nonlinear phonological framework, each profile describes a child's strengths and needs in word structure, segments, features and their interactions and suggests an intervention plan. Where available, follow-up data from after clinical intervention are included. This introductory paper provides the theoretical background for the papers and reflects on the findings, drawing out particular themes and implications for phonological and developmental theories and clinical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the phonological system of a monolingual Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking 9-year-old girl with Down Syndrome (DS) as part of a special crosslinguistic issue presenting individual profiles of children with protracted phonological development within the framework of constraints-based nonlinear phonology. Her responses to a 100-word speech test were audio-recorded and transcribed narrowly by two native speakers. Analyses showed low accuracy for word shapes (CV sequences), primarily because of expected deletion patterns in initial weak syllables and clusters, but also reflecting inaccuracies in segment length. Vowel match was also relatively low. For consonants, she unexpectedly showed lower accuracy for stops than typically later-developing liquids and fricatives. This case study provides researchers and speech-language pathologists with broader information about expected and unexpected patterns in children with DS and protracted phonological development in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the phonology of a Japanese four-year-old with mildly protracted phonological development (PPD) as a contribution to a special crosslinguistic issue presenting individual profiles in PPD within the framework of constraint-based nonlinear phonology. Although the child's word structure and vowels were well-established, certain consonant classes presented challenges. Coronal anterior obstruents often showed posteriorization (backing): dorsal stops replaced coronal stops, and with some exceptions, alveolopalatal affricates replaced anterior fricatives and affricates. The feature [+continuant] was also not yet established: palatal and bilabial fricatives and /h/ were either deleted or replaced with glottal stop; and non-anterior affricates replaced coronal fricatives. If affricates are analyzed as a sequence of [-continuant]-[+continuant], they were possible transitional elements from non-continuants to continuants. The profile culminates with suggestions for intervention based on the nonlinear phonological analysis, consistent with other papers in this special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study presents an English-speaking preschooler with severely protracted phonological development (PPD) before and after two six-week blocks of intervention (36 sessions). Pre-treatment (3;8), he showed very low whole word, singleton consonant, vowel, and word shape matches. He had two major uncommon patterns: (1) higher accuracy for word-final consonants compared with word-initial (WI) and word-medial (WM); and (2) frequent substitution of onset consonants with glottals [h] or [ʔ]. Goals and treatment strategies were selected using a nonlinear phonological approach. Post-treatment, there was a notable decrease in frequency of glottal substitutions and concomitant increase in word shape, consonant, and vowel match. Pre- and post-treatment data are presented and discussed in terms of theoretical and clinical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following paper presents an Icelandic-speaking child with protracted phonological development (PPD) over an intervention period (age 4;10 to 5;3) as a contribution to a special crosslinguistic issue describing individual profiles in PPD. Along with typical mismatch ("error") patterns, the child showed one pervasive and rare mismatch for Icelandic: compensatory lengthening of vowels when postvocalic consonant sequences reduced. Segment length is phonemic in Icelandic; thus, this pattern decreased her intelligibility considerably. A constraints-based nonlinear phonological framework served as a basis for analysis and intervention planning. Need addressed across the phonological hierarchy were: (1) accurate mapping between the timing tier (word structure level) and consonant and vowel tiers, through a focus on word-medial (WM) pre-aspirated stops; (2) onset complexity (word-initial (WI) /s/-clusters); and (3) a positional target, WI /f/. During intervention (17 sessions), she successfully produced training words for all targets. Monthly probes and a post-test at 5;3 revealed generalization to untrained words for pre-aspirated stops and labiodentals but not for /s/-clusters. Overall, compensatory vowel lengthening reduced substantially. The nonlinear analysis pointed specifically to the nature of the timing mismatches, supporting system-wide change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the phonology of a German four-year-old with asynchronous phonological development: age-level word structure and vowels, but a restricted consonantal inventory. Both expected and unexpected developmental patterns were evident. While the absence of dorsal non-continuants and most coronal and labiodental fricatives and affricates is not unexpected in four-year-olds with PPD, less expected was his mastery of more marked /l/ and /ʁ/ and the pervasive use of ungrooved interdental fricatives (or affricates) as substitutions. Ungrooved interdentals often replace grooved fricatives and affricates, but in his system, they also replaced stops in more marked prosodic positions (unstressed initial syllables and clusters) and labiodental /f/. His case profile demonstrates the autonomy of phonological tiers (levels) but also the restrictive interactions that occur when one tier dominates, in his case, word structure. A proposed treatment plan targets new feature combinations and consonant sequences in order to address the asynchrony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the complex phonological patterns of one Slovenian-speaking girl with protracted phonological development who received phonological intervention. At 4;6, the child's word length, stress and vowels were age-level, but she showed reduced match levels (accuracy) for syllable structure and consonants. Unusual constraints on word position and sequences, particularly concerning fricatives and stops, resulted in many assimilations, reduplications and metatheses. Addressing these constraints in the first intervention period (to 4;9) led to higher overall accuracy and a transition from less typical to more typical mismatches ("errors"), e.g., sibilant grooving (stridency) and rhotic production as singletons and in clusters. The profile focuses on that initial pre- and post-treatment period, giving a brief overview of the follow-up intervention and outcomes and reflecting on implications for future research and clinical practice.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a contribution to a special issue with individual profiles in protracted phonological development (PPD), we present a European Portuguese-speaking six-year-old, "Vicente". By age six years, Portuguese-learning children have generally mastered most of the phonology. However, Vicente showed severe persisting PPD, which was negatively impacting his general socialisation. Although word length and stress often matched the adult targets as did many consonants and vowels, consonants were restricted in distribution and sequences. Consonant clusters showed a particularly high proportion of reduction. A constraints-based nonlinear phonological analysis led to a proposed intervention plan to address needs across the phonological hierarchy in the context of his greater need for enhanced socialisation: starting with the more attainable new word positions and sequences for consonants in his inventory, before addressing a major need for new word structure (clusters) and minor needs for segmental development (additional coronals). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a special issue on case profiles in protracted phonological development (PPD), we present a Mandarin-speaking three-year-old boy from Shanghai with severe PPD and no other developmental concerns. In comparison with typically developing (TD) children and a peer group from Shanghai with PPD, he had a very low Whole Word Match score (3.7% of words matched the adult targets exactly), reflecting severe constraints on word structure, consonants and diphthongs/triphthongs. His phonological output resembled that of younger children in its absence of fricatives, liquids and diphthongs/triphthongs alongside fairly high match for word length, tones and monophthongs, labials /p/ and /m/ and dorsal /k/. However, less expected was a pervasive glottal stop substitution in onset. The analysis describes his needs in detail but also strengths that could be exploited in phonological intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper analyses speech data of a monolingual Bulgarian girl ("Etty", aged 3;11) with protracted phonological development (PPD). Etty's profile demonstrates the strong effects of prohibitive word structure constraints on segmental and whole-word accuracy. Single-word utterances were audio-recorded by a native speaker and transcribed phonetically by three transcribers. Data were analysed within a constraints-based nonlinear phonological framework (Bernhardt & Stemberger, Introduction to this issue). Even though the child's segmental system met age-level expectations in stressed syllables, strong constraints against initial unstressed syllables and consonant sequences reduced her overall accuracy and intelligibility. The data highlight the importance of examining all aspects of the phonological hierarchy, and further define the scope of PPD for Bulgarian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although group studies provide necessary information about the range and frequency of phenomena in phonological development, individual profiles (case studies) can be used to describe entire phonological systems in detail. Profiles from different languages can highlight similarities and differences across languages that may be less obvious in group studies. The current issue presents profiles of children with protracted phonological development (PPD: speech sound disorders) from 16 languages (Akan, Kuwaiti Arabic, Bulgarian, Canadian English, Farsi, Canadian French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Japanese, Mandarin, Polish, European Portuguese, Slovenian, Granada Spanish, Swedish). Utilising a constraints-based nonlinear phonological framework, each profile describes a child's strengths and needs in word structure, segments, features and their interactions and suggests an intervention plan. Where available, follow-up data from after clinical intervention are included. This introductory paper provides the theoretical background for the papers and reflects on the findings, drawing out particular themes and implications for phonological and developmental theories and clinical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the phonological system of a monolingual Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking 9-year-old girl with Down Syndrome (DS) as part of a special crosslinguistic issue presenting individual profiles of children with protracted phonological development within the framework of constraints-based nonlinear phonology. Her responses to a 100-word speech test were audio-recorded and transcribed narrowly by two native speakers. Analyses showed low accuracy for word shapes (CV sequences), primarily because of expected deletion patterns in initial weak syllables and clusters, but also reflecting inaccuracies in segment length. Vowel match was also relatively low. For consonants, she unexpectedly showed lower accuracy for stops than typically later-developing liquids and fricatives. This case study provides researchers and speech-language pathologists with broader information about expected and unexpected patterns in children with DS and protracted phonological development in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the phonology of a Japanese four-year-old with mildly protracted phonological development (PPD) as a contribution to a special crosslinguistic issue presenting individual profiles in PPD within the framework of constraint-based nonlinear phonology. Although the child's word structure and vowels were well-established, certain consonant classes presented challenges. Coronal anterior obstruents often showed posteriorization (backing): dorsal stops replaced coronal stops, and with some exceptions, alveolopalatal affricates replaced anterior fricatives and affricates. The feature [+continuant] was also not yet established: palatal and bilabial fricatives and /h/ were either deleted or replaced with glottal stop; and non-anterior affricates replaced coronal fricatives. If affricates are analyzed as a sequence of [-continuant]-[+continuant], they were possible transitional elements from non-continuants to continuants. The profile culminates with suggestions for intervention based on the nonlinear phonological analysis, consistent with other papers in this special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study addresses the acquisition of tautosyllabic consonant clusters (CCs) in Chilean preschoolers with typical (TD) versus protracted phonological development (PPD). The objectives were to analyze accuracy of CCs and mismatch (error) patterns as a function of age (4/ 5 years) and TD/PPD group, examining effects of sonority, stress, place of articulation and development of /l/ and /ɾ/ as singletons. Participants included 20 Chilean Spanish-speaking children with TD and 20 with PPD (ages 4 and 5 years). The TD group showed higher accuracy and an age effect. For both developmental groups, timing unit match was higher than full segmental match. CCs with labial and voiceless C1s in stressed syllables were most accurate. In the PPD group, deletions predominated over substitutions, deletions of C1 were significantly higher and the typology of substitutions was more differentiated. Results are evaluated in light of previous research on Chilean preschoolers, and clinical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past few decades have seen rapid changes in speech-language pathology in terms of technology, information on speech production and perception, and increasing levels of multilingualism in communities. This tutorial provides an overview of phonetic transcription for the modern world, both for work with clients, and for research and training. The authors draw on their backgrounds in phonetics, phonology and speech-language pathology, and their crosslinguistic project in the phonological acquisition of children with typical versus protracted phonological development. Challenges and solutions are presented, as well as resources for further training of students, clinicians and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current issue examined acquisition of challenging segments in complex contexts: Taps/trills in word-initial clusters, plus related targets (/l/-clusters and singleton rhotics and /l/). Data were from preschool children with typical versus protracted phonological development (PPD) in Iceland, Sweden (Germanic), Portugal, Spain/Chile (Romance), Bulgaria, Slovenia (Slavic), and Hungary (Finno-Ugric). Results showed developmental group and age effects. Clusters generally had lower accuracy than singletons, although not uniformly, and were more accurate in stressed syllables. The rhotics were less advanced than alveolar /l/ except in European Portuguese, where the lateral is velarized. In early development, the rhotic is often deleted, but in later, development substitutions for rhotics were more common, primarily non-nasal coronal sonorants, which match some of the place and manner features of the rhotic. Vowel epenthesis sometimes appeared in rhotic clusters. Children with PPD showed more varied mismatch patterns, including more than one mismatch pattern within a cluster. Implications for research and clinical practice are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers in this crosslinguistic issue address children’s acquisition of word-initial rhotic clusters in languages with taps/trills, that is, the acquisition of challenging segments in complex environments. Several papers also include comparisons with singleton rhotics and/or /l/ as a singleton or in clusters. The studies are part of a larger investigation that uses similar methodologies across languages in order to enhance crosslinguistic comparability (Bernhardt and Stemberger, 2012, 2015). Participants for the current studies were monolingual preschoolers with typical or protracted phonological development who speak one of the following languages: Germanic (Icelandic/Swedish); Romance (Portuguese/Spanish); Slavic (Bulgarian/Slovenian) and Finno-Ugric (Hungarian). This introductory paper describes characteristics of taps/trills and general methodology across the studies, concluding with predicted patterns of acquisition. The seven papers that follow are in a sense the ‘results’ for this introduction. A concluding paper discusses major findings and their implications for theory, research and clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper describes acquisition of word-initial (WI) trilled /r/ in clusters and as a singleton in 60 Bulgarian 3-5-year-olds with typically developing (TD) versus protracted phonological development (PPD). A native speaker audio-recorded and transcribed single-word responses to a picture-naming task (110 words) that included eight words with WI rhotic clusters and two with WI singleton /r/. Accuracy was significantly higher in the TD groups and for the PPD groups, by age. Mismatch patterns varied: the PPD cohort had the most varied patterns although the younger children with PPD showed more /r/ deletion in clusters, and the TD groups and 5-year-olds with PPD more substitutions for /r/. Substitutions for rhotics included taps (most frequent; possibly an acceptable variant), voiced uvular and palatal fricatives, laterals, glides, other rhotics, stops and nasals. These results add to the growing database on Bulgarian phonological acquisition concerning accuracy and mismatches by group and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A crosslinguistic study is underway concerning children's protracted phonological development (i.e. speech sound disorders). The current article reports pilot Spanish data for this study from two 4-year-old boys with protracted phonological development. The purposes of the pilot study were to: (1) develop and evaluate a word list for elicitation that could be used across Spanish dialects and that sufficiently sampled Spanish word lengths, stress patterns, word shapes and phonemes; and (2) to derive hypotheses for the larger study, based on patterns found in these children's speech, and a review of the literature. The two speakers showed some developmental patterns reported for other languages (e.g. constraints on production of liquids and word-initial consonants in unstressed syllables) but also patterns that may reflect Spanish phonological inventories, allophony and frequencies. These data helped consolidate the Spanish word list for elicitation and led to questions for the ongoing study concerning word structure, multisyllabic words, liquids, fricatives and vowel sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This follow-up study investigated the speech production of seven adolescents and young adults with hearing impairment 2-4 years after speech intervention with ultrasound and electropalatography. Perceptual judgments by seven expert listeners revealed that five out of seven speakers either continued to generalize post-treatment or maintained their level of performance post-treatment. Targets included fricatives, vowels and the rhotic /ɹ/. Speakers ranged in age from 14 to 19 years. Listeners were considered to be expert listeners. All listeners had extensive backgrounds in phonetics and phonology and were speech-language pathologists. This long-term investigation revealed that speech habilitation with visual feedback tools as adjuncts to therapy appeared to have lasting effects. The implications for habilitation include reduced therapy times and outcomes not previously possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To examine treatment outcomes in relation to the complexity of treatment goals for children with speech sound disorders. Method: The clinical implications of dynamic systems theory in contrast with learnability theory are discussed, especially in the context of target selection decisions for children with speech sound disorders. Detailed phonological analyses of pre-and posttreatment speech samples are provided for 6 children who received treatment in a previously published randomized controlled trial of contrasting approaches to target selection (Rvachew & Nowak, 2001). Three children received treatment for simple target phonemes that did not introduce any new feature contrasts into the children's phonological systems. Three children received treatment for complex targets that represented feature contrasts that were absent from the children's phonological systems. Results: Children who received treatment for simple targets made more progress toward the acquisition of the target sounds and demonstrated emergence of complex untreated segments and feature contrasts. Children who received treatment for complex targets made little measurable gain in phonological development. Conclusions: Treatment outcomes will be enhanced if the clinician selects treatment targets at the segmental and prosodic levels of the phonological system in such a way as to stabilize the child's knowledge of subcomponents that form the foundation for the emergence of more complex phoneme contrasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ultrasound can provide images of the tongue during speech production. The present study set out to examine the potential utility of ultrasound in remediation of North American English /r/. Method: The participants were 2 Canadian English-speaking adolescents who had not yet acquired /r/. The study included an initial period without ultrasound and 13 treatment sessions, each 1 hr long, using ultrasound. Speech samples were recorded at screening and immediately before and after treatment. Samples were analyzed acoustically and with listener judgments. Ultrasound images were obtained before, during, and after the treatment period. Results: Three speech-language pathologists unfamiliar with the participants rated significantly more posttreatment tokens as accurate [r]s in single words and some phrases. Acoustic analyses showed an expected lowering of the third formant after treatment. A qualitative observation of posttreatment ultrasound images for accurate [r] tokens showed tongue shapes to be more similar to those of typical adults than had been observed before treatment. Participants needed continued practice of their newly acquired skills in sentences and conversation. Conclusion: Two-dimensional dynamic ultrasound appears to have potential utility for remediation of /r/ in speakers with residual /r/ impairment. Further research is needed with larger numbers of participants to establish the relative efficacy of ultrasound in treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper describes Spanish acquisition of rhotic onset clusters. Data are also provided on related singleton taps/trills and /l/ as a singleton and in clusters. Participants included 9 typically developing (TD) toddlers and 30 TD preschoolers in Chile, and 30 TD preschoolers and 29 with protracted phonological development (PPD) in Granada, Spain. Results showed age and developmental group effects. Preservation of cluster timing units preceded segmental accuracy, especially in stressed syllables. Tap clusters versus singleton trills were variable in order of mastery, some children mastering clusters first, and others, the trill. Rhotics were acquired later than /l/. In early development, mismatches (errors) involved primarily deletion of taps; where substitutions occurred, [j] frequently replaced tap. In later development, [l] more frequently replaced tap; where taps did occur, vowel epenthesis sometimes occurred. The data serve as a criterion reference database for onset cluster acquisition in Chilean and Granada Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the phonology of a Granada Spanish-speaking 4-year-old boy with Protracted Phonological Development (PPD) from the perspective of constraint-based nonlinear phonology. Although he had acquired basic word structure and a near-complete repertoire of vowels and consonants, he had difficulties producing more complex word structures (multisyllabic words, clusters, diphthongs) and producing sequences of consonant manner and place features across vowels. The analysis outlines his strengths and needs in phonological development, and proposes an intervention plan to address constraints on complexity and sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes word-initial (WI) rhotic cluster development in Slovenian 4-year-olds. Data for /l/ and WI singleton /r/ serve as comparisons. Participants were 19 children with typical development (TD) and 13 with more protracted phonological development (PPD). A single-word list included 15 WI /r/-clusters, 9 /l/-clusters and 3 singleton /r/s and /l/s each. Results showed significantly higher match (accuracy) levels for rhotics in the TD group. Among rhotic clusters, TD children showed highest match levels for labial clusters, and the PPD group, for /dr/. Match levels did not differ significantly between singletons and clusters or targets in stressed versus unstressed syllables. Substitutions were more frequent than deletions, and children with PPD had more frequent and varied mismatch patterns; for the PPD group, [l] was the most frequent substitution for /r/ and for the TD group, other rhotics. The study provides additional criterion reference data on Slovenian phonological development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]