Haskins Publications

Number	890
Year	1994
Drawer	16
Entry Date	07/15/1998
Authors	Best, Catherine T.
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Publication	The Development of Speech Perception: TheTransition from Speech Sounds to Spoken Words, edited by J.C. Goodman and H.C. Nusbaum. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. pp. 167-224.
url	http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL0890.pdf
Abstract	When we hear words from an unfamiliar language spoken by a native of that language, we often have difficulty perceiving the phonetic differences among contrasting consonant (or vowel) sounds that are not distinct phonemes in our own language. Of course, we experience no difficulty with phonemes that are very similar to our own native-phonemes. Very young infants, however, discriminate not only the segmental contrasts of their native language but many nonnative contrasts as well. That is, they are apparently unfettered by the phonological constraints of their language environment. Moreover, young children typically come to perceive and produce with relative ease just those phonemes that the language of their community uses.
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