Independent analysis includes phonemic inventory and word/syllable shapes.

Independent analysis includes phonemic inventory and word/syllable shapes.

• A. Phonemic Inventory and Word/Syllable Shapes
• B. PCC and Proximity
• C. Neighborhood Density
• D. Phonotactic Probability

Answer: (A)

Independent analysis in child phonology focuses on describing what the child can produce without comparing it to adult forms. The two core ideas are the phonemic inventory—the set of distinct sounds the child actually uses—and the shapes of the words or syllables they produce (like CV, CVC, VC patterns). Together, these show the child’s productive sound repertoire and their preferred syllable structures, based solely on the child’s own speech. This is why listing phonemic inventory and word/syllable shapes is the best fit: it directly reflects what the child can say and the patterns they use, without bringing in how those productions line up with adult targets. Other options involve measures that rely on language-wide statistics or on relationships to adult forms (for example, how common certain sound sequences are overall, or how many neighboring words exist in the lexicon), which are more aligned with relational or lexical analyses rather than independent, child-centered description.

Independent analysis in child phonology focuses on describing what the child can produce without comparing it to adult forms. The two core ideas are the phonemic inventory—the set of distinct sounds the child actually uses—and the shapes of the words or syllables they produce (like CV, CVC, VC patterns). Together, these show the child’s productive sound repertoire and their preferred syllable structures, based solely on the child’s own speech.

This is why listing phonemic inventory and word/syllable shapes is the best fit: it directly reflects what the child can say and the patterns they use, without bringing in how those productions line up with adult targets. Other options involve measures that rely on language-wide statistics or on relationships to adult forms (for example, how common certain sound sequences are overall, or how many neighboring words exist in the lexicon), which are more aligned with relational or lexical analyses rather than independent, child-centered description.