Interacció dels dos sistemes fonològics en el marc de l'adquisició fonològica bilingüe

Abstract

Current research on bilingual phonological acquisition assumes that the child develops two distinct phonological systems, albeit in close relation to one another. The present paper shows some cases of interaction between the two growing systems, relying on data from the simultaneous acquisition of Spanish and German. The main focus lies on the acquisition of alternant forms, as in Spanish spirantization and assimilation of point of articulation in the nasals. Our results show cases of delay, which is interpreted as transfer of the lexical representation of certain segments in the other language. These findings contrast with the acceleration in coda production by the same bilingual children in Spanish. The relevant categories are classified as additive or subtractive on the bases of internal factors like complexity and external factors like input frequency. Although this classification cannot yet predict the direction of influence, it can contribute to understanding the phenomena under study.