The influences of phonotactic constraints of words on speech production

It is known that words are stored in the mental lexicon with certain lexical and phonological properties and that these properties have consequences for the perception and production of words. Phonotactic probability is a phonological property of words. It is defined by segment position frequency and bi‐phone co‐occurrence frequency. A word can have a high probability pattern or a low probability pattern. In this study, the effects of the phonotactic probabilities of words on speech production have been examined in children with typical speech and language skills and children with phonological disorders. Typical children between the ages of 4–6, 7–8, and 9–11, children with phonological disorders, ages 4–11, and typical adults were studied. Twelve CVC words and nonwords, six high probability and six low probability, were used as stimuli. Each subject produced the stimulus items for audio‐recording and later waveform analysis. Acoustic measurements, specifically duration, differed based upon the phonotacti...