PhonBank English Compton / Pater Corpus

Arthur J. Compton Institute of Language and Phonology website

Joe Pater Linguistics UMass Amherst pater@linguist.umass.edu

Browsable transcripts

Phon data

CHAT data

Citation information

Compton, Arthur J., & Mary Streeter. (1977). Child Phonology: Data Collection and Preliminary Analyses, in Papers and Reports on Child Language Development 13. Stanford University, Stanford, California.

Pater, Joe. (1997). Minimal Violation and Phonological Development. Language Acquisition, 6(3), 201-253.

In accordance with TalkBank rules, any use of data from this corpus must be accompanied by at least one of the above references.

Project Description

A team, under the direction of A. J. Compton, in the 1970s originally collected these data. The method of data collection and some preliminary analyses, were presented in Compton & Streeter (1977). The project was undertaken to map out, as precisely as possible, the development of children’s sound systems. With this goal in mind, a diary method of data collection was chosen, with parents keep track of their children’s utterances by recording them in notebooks at least four days a week and scattered throughout the child’s waking hours, covering about four hours a day. The parents were speech pathologists and received additional training in the phonetic transcription of child speech prior to the study.

All of the children were learning American English as spoken in California. None of the children had any language or learning-related impairments.

Joe Pater prepared this corpus for PhonBank.

Participant Name	Age Range	Sessions	Sex
Julia	1;02.21 – 3;01.03	380	F
Sean	1;01.25 – 3;02.20	347	M
Trevor	0;8 – 3;01.08	218	M

Notes from the original corpus

• Julia-1973-11-29: Lately her position for the [s] sound seems to be moving more forward again, toward the [θ], as it was when she first made the sound. There was a period when the [s] had moved back to about normal alveolar position.
• Sean: listed after 1974-01-16, but lacking its own date: Approximately the last two weeks in December and first week in January Sean was difficult to understand. Couldn't transcribe other than single words. He was saying sentences in jargon form and using a lot of repetition of sounds. By second week in January it was easier to understand again.
• Trevor 1973-01-29: Decrease in babbling recently and is now attempting to put final sounds (endings) on words. Uses fork with right hand.
• Trevor 1973-03-15: Wakes up declining syllables in his crib - mainly one syllable things, but with differing inflections and vowel wounds - also using b sound
• Trevor 1973-03-30 (1;3.26): In response to music, he will whistle, bounce in time, attempt to sing, say [pʌpʌ] in rhythm
• Trevor 1973-03-30 (1;3.26): Climbs on couch unassisted - can climb down also, pushes his stroller, pulls toys around house, frequently makes towers of three to five blocks, throws and kicks a ball
• Trevor 1973-03-30 (1;3.26): Walks well, will only occasionally allow his hand held, tries to run swifty, still crawls - like up a hill or in sand rather than try to walk
• Trevor 1973-04-06 (1;4.2): Trevor and parents are staying at friends (beginning five days ago) where there are a couple of other children, ages 4 and 7 - from 1-1/4
• Trevor 1973-06-12 (1;6.8): Trevor has had a bad cold for one week now, where his speech was muffled with a stuffy nose, etc.
• Trevor 1973-06-13 (1;6.9): Slides down four stairs - walks up any number of stairs. Climbs up alone on chairs, couches, beds. Can walk very fast, beginning to run
• Trevor 1973-06-13 (1;6.9): With encouragement builds towers to 6-7. Recognizes elimination functions before they happen, but no interest in putting it in the toilet
• Trevor 1973-06-13 (1;6.9): Eats well with spoon. Drinks from a cup but is still attached to a bottle. Does not suck thumb. Occasionally throws short and violent
• Trevor 1973-06-13 (1;6.9): Shows special interest in music listening and touching any kind of instrument and in touching and smelling all kinds of plants, flowers, and trees.
• Trevor 1973-11-09 (1;11.5): Trevor attempts to carry on a lengthy conversational phrase, searching for words with consternation and frustration- This dynamic speech may continue non stop for a couple of minutes with related vocabulary interspersed with [æ, ɛ, a, ʌh] sounds when he searches for the right word. He remains understandable although not transcribable. He nods his head, uses his hands to emphasize what he is trying to say. This occurs when he's turned on, but relaxed- after a good dinner while in the high chair with both of us. Talking to Trevor is a plus, and he uses it
• Trevor 1973-12-12 (2;0.8): Trevor really gets into playing, making animal sounds with his zoo, engine sound for his various vehicles- also, Trevor fantisizes- Eating a donut, he comments on its different shapes and what they look like- they get wild- lions, trains, clouds, and finally, mess- We also think he has been dreaming- wakes up with stories and seems wakeful and fearful.
• Trevor 1973-12-31 (2;0.27): Trevor rides a tike bike (no pedals) all over the house still doesn't run-attempts a jump-seems to use both hands in building blocks, playing or writing- in hammering he changes to right hand to do it harder. Still- doesn't show much hand preference. Trevor spends much time alone in bed upon waking- talks constantly.
• Trevor 1974-01-09 (2;1.5): Crib babble: Trevor talks or sings himself to sleep-counts:1, 2, 3, 4, 10! Letter: in his name-mostly V, E, R, O -reading: he imitates reading- letters on cereal boxes, newspaper-anything-starts off with [əm...] and then its incoherent babble- now words-just strings of sounds.
• Trevor 1974-01-09 (2;1.5) Using past tenses a lot: go- going- went- gone< run- running< eat- eating- ate burp- burping- burped< coming- coming- came
• Trevor 1974-01-18 (2;1.14): Trevor seems to fantasize a lot- good imagination- will play with a hunk of clay, pretending it to be a horse, boat, airplane, food, all with conversations and imaginery settings-Attention span with such a clay project can last 45 minutes-Crayons, however, last about 3 or 4 minutes with no fantasy play.
• Trevor 1974-01-19 (2;1.15) Crib babble: Trevor drops bottle, Trevor drops bear, Trevor drops etc.- then, Dada drops ____, then Mama drops_____. Give the blanket to____. Trevor give blanket to______. This goes on in various forms for about 5-10 minutes after waking.
• Trevor 1974-01-19 (2;1.15): Drawing: seems to enjoy many fantasies- draws horses, bright sun,airplanes, [gau:z], all his favorite things- They all bear no resemblance of course- He can draw circles or loops (see page) and seems to be more into lines than colors.
• Trevor 1974-01-19 (2;1.15): Reading his 'book about noses'- he plays with words- 'Burning Bernie'- the book tales of sun burns
• Trevor 1974-01-21 (2;1.17): Trevor pretends to read- always starts out with [əm...] and then systematically mechanically says nonsense syllables. Trevor imitates words- asks them to be repeated- he tries again- he's a good imitator.
• Trevor 1974-01-21 (2;1.17): In Merced for five previous days- in the car coming home, he talked in his car seat for 45 minutes
• Trevor 1974-01-30 (2;1.26): Fantasy play with toast in his high chair- pretends it to be a house, a car, a horse, bright sun, a barking dog- takes different pieces to inter-react with- changes shapes by eating and noticing new objects each bite
• Trevor 1974-01-30 (2;1.26): Trevor has always lengthened vowel sounds-not until this batch of transcriptions did I understand to put more than one (ː) notation for this lengthening-therefore, these new indications are not saying that Trevor is making new sounds-this long vowel is consistent with previous speech.
• Trevor 1974-02-19 (2;2.15): When Trevor draws, he usually names objects as he draws (names his pictures) Objects change rapidly, as do his arm motion speeds and vocal intensity- favorite objects are motor bikes, lawnmowers, horses, bright suns, and water.
• Trevor 1974-02-19 (2;2.15): When Trevor explains something that 'we don't understand' he will carefully repeat it. He makes no effort to explain using different words. He's not used to being understood. He does not get frustrated, just determined.
• Trevor 1974-02-27 (2;2.23): Today Trevor makes the [ð] for the first time
• Trevor 1974-02-27 (2;2.23: In the last three or four days, Trevor's speech seems to be a lot more articulate. Strangers remark on his vocabulary and expression and are surprised that they can understand him. This is also partially because he is a little guy. But, his speech is a lot clearer.

Sean’s vocabulary between 1973-07-10 and 1973-07-13 (no specific date)

Vocabulary at 14 months

Sean	353	[bai] [bai]	[bye] [bye]
Sean	354	[bʌbʌ]	button
Sean	355	[apu]	food
Sean	356	[ʌwʌ]	hello
Sean	357	[ʌp]	up

Vocabulary at 15 months

Sean	358	[bebi]	baby
Sean	359	[mami]	mommy
Sean	360	[bʌ]	brush
Sean	361	[dau]	down
Sean	362	[dɪdi]	Gypsy
Sean	363	[bʊ]	book
Sean	364	[ai]	eye
Sean	365	[oo]	shoe
Sean	366	[dædi]	daddy
Sean	367	[kækʊ]	cracker

Vocabulary at 16 months

Sean	368	[badu]	bottle
Sean	369	[buː]	balloon
Sean	370	[puː]	spoon
Sean	371	[hai]	hi
Sean	372	[ba]	ball
Sean	373	[pepʌ]	paper
Sean	374	[ɡæɡi]	glasses
Sean	375	[ba]	bath
Sean	376	[bʊː]	bird
Sean	377	[daɡi]	doggy
Sean	378	[bʌ]	bread