CHILDES English Feldman Corpus

Andrea Feldman
University Writing Program
University of Colorado
feldman@colorado.edu
website

Participants:	1
Type of Study:	case study
Location:	USA
Media type:	audio
DOI:	doi:10.21415/T5NG7F

Citation information

Feldman, A. (1998). "Constructing Grammar: Fillers, Formulas, and Function" A longitudinal study of the earliest stages of word combination in an effort to identify and track the emergence of grammar in children. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Colorado. Available at the University of Colorado library

Feldman, A., & Menn, L. (2003). Up close and personal: A case study of the development of three English fillers. Journal of Child Language, 30(04), 735-768.

Menn, L. & Feldman, A. (2001). Commentary on filler syllables. Journal of child language, 28, 269-71.

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

The data in this study come from a longitudinal study of Andrea Feldman’s first child, code-named Steven, from age 0;5 to 2;9. Steven was born 18-JUL-1992. Feldman began video and audio-taping Steven once a month from 0;5 to 1;2, after which she taped him approximately three hours per week. Phonetic transcriptions of Steven's speech are included only on words that differ noticeably from the adult standard; all other words are written on the main tier in standard English. At the time of taping, the mother was a linguistics doctoral student and the father was a senior instructor in Writing at the University of Colorado.

Steven was tested cognitively at two and three years old by his pediatrician. On the Verbal Language Development Exam he scored 3.88 (approximate developmental age) at two years old and 5.74 at three years old. On the Denver Articulation Screening Exam, he scored in the 98th percentile at age three; for purposes of comparison with other children, one would classify him as a rapid language learner.

The data were collected using a Sony FE camcorder along with a Marantz tape recorder and a Tecnica remote microphone. A heavy duty Bogen 3211 tripod was also used at times. Steven was always taped in our own home, with one or both parents present. Usually, one parent operated the video camera while the other interacted with the child. 'Laura', Steven's younger sister, was born when he was 1;11.13; she is present and sometimes making sounds (but not yet speaking) on some of these tapes.

Ten one-hour tapes between the ages of 1;2.1 and 1;4.16, and fourteen between the ages of 1;11 and 2;3.26 were transcribed. Steven's Lexicon (note: parents were relaxed about using some of STV's child forms to him, and sometimes with each other)

[bababa] 'food' 4/8/93 age 0;8.21 - 1;0.10
voiceless [b] 'food' 4/8/93
[ma][mama] 'mama' 4/23/93
[mUm] 'mama' 5/22/93
[dada] 'dad' 5/22/93
[ha] 'hi' 5/17/93
[baba] 'bye' 5/18/93
[gobaba] 'goin' bye bye' 6/8/93
[boida] [goida] 'good night' 6/9/93
[nana] 'no' 6/13/93
[nana] 'banana' 7/1/93
[mae] 'good' 7/3/93
[*b] 'splashy' 7/26/93
[kaka] 'quack quack' (name for duck) 7/28/93
[Uk] 'yucky' 7/28/93
a other
adiadi slide
adior from Spanish, adios
aish, ai, aiX orange
ba red
badada body lotion
bae or baek black
bagi bagel, bread
bibi slipper
Bikiki King Soopers
bu blue
budleyley doll
byebye byebye or telephone
byebye bathie bath
byegoodbye telephone
didi train, deer
Ebi Fine Park Eben Fine Park
gi green
giya crayons
higher higher building blocks
kaboomps fall down, from kaboom
kaka car
mama milk, mother
magigaga milk and cookies
mangimangi fire engine
Mimi Sabrina, or Brina, the family cat
ming swing
Minimart Toys R Us
Nada Lamb Chop
nadi lambie
nola granola
nula vanilla
opa open
Tadi STV (name for himself)
Tadu Thomas the Tank Engine
tuba table
Yaya Lara (name for baby sister)