Evidence of Interaction in Bilingual Phonology: Substitution Errors and the Role of Markedness

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide evidence for a theoretical model of between-language interaction in bilingual phonological representation through the examination of substitution error patterns through the lens of markedness, or relative featural complexity. Specifically, we observed what targets bilingual children avoid and what phones bilingual children use as substitutes for those targets. Due to the nature of between-language interaction, we predicted that phonemes shared between languages with lower markedness values would be used as substitutes for unshared sounds with higher markedness values. Method: Seventy children, ages 3;11-6;7 (years;months), participated in this study: sixty-three typically developing bilingual Spanish-English speaking children and seven bilingual Spanish-English speaking children with speech sound disorders. Substitution errors in single-word speech samples were analyzed in relation to their markedness values in terms of both targets avoided and substitutes produced. Results: Findings indicated both typically developing and bilingual Spanish-English speaking children with speech sound disorders preferred the use of unmarked phonemes that are shared across languages over the use of marked, language-specific phonemes. Conclusion: Through the examination of substitution errors, evidence of between-language interaction and recognition of relative complexity emerged. These results have implications for multidimensional, cross-linguistic interactions as well as the language-specific patterns demonstrated in substitution errors. Keywords: bilingual, phonology, markedness, substitutionRelease after 05/13/202