Detailed Project Description

Participants were recruited by word of mouth under the friends and colleagues of the main investigator. The criteria for recruitment were (1) an adequate age of the child, (2) just one predominant (Czech) language in his/her environment and (3) his/her typical development so far. The recording was done completely by the child’s caregivers without any observer. The caregivers were instructed to record various home situations as eating, housework, reading and playing for 20–40 minutes once per two weeks. The caregivers more or less followed this schedule. They alone decided which recordings would they hand over for subsequent processing, but usually they sent all of the recorded material to the corpus database. Typically, one trained transcriber processed continuously all the recordings from one family. Each transcription was revised by a second trained person and the revisions were reviewed and approved by the original transcriber. At the end, all the transcriptions were revised once more by means of CLAN checking. Especially the following phenomena were coded during the transcription: dysfluencies (repetitions, false starts, self-corrections), interjections @i and specific use of interjections (see Specific Codes), morphological innovations @n, errors [*] and child forms @c.

Children

1. Aneta

Caregivers and environment. The girl with pseudonym Aneta lived in Prague or the metropolitan area since birth. During the recorded period, she lived in a flat in the broader city center. Until 3 years of age, she spent most of the time with her father, mother and a babysitter. From 3 to 4 years, she went to a daycare center once a week for the whole day and four times a week for half a day. Occasionally, she might spend one or two weeks at her grandparents in Silesia (east of Czechia). Both of her parents come from the eastern part of Czech Republic (Ostrava and Přerov), so in their as well as in her speech, some regionalisms occur. Her father was 41 years old when Aneta was born. He he studied university for a long time, although he has not graduated, and he is employed at a research institution. Her mother was 33 years old when Aneta was born. She has university education and is a university scientist. The first babysitter and close family friend Ivan (pseudonym) was a graduate student during the recording. At that time, he was abroad for almost a year and Aneta spent much time with another babysitter Tereza and her daughter Františka (the same age as Aneta). Aneta has an older brother Libor (pseudonym). He was six years old when she was born.

Recordings. Recording with Aneta started at 2;2.8 and continued until 3;3.18 with the median interval of 11 days between recordings (range from 2 to 50 days). The median length of a recording is 0:18:49 (range from 0:01:25 – a part of multi-session recording during one day – to 0:33:24). Together, there are 38 recordings of total length of 11:31:33. The recording was usually made by Ivan or by the mother. Occasionally, the father, the brother and the grandfather also appear on the recordings. The recorded situations mostly take place at home while drawing, reading, playing or eating. The recorded period was between 2014 and 2016. Aneta’s original audiorecordings are available to other researchers upon request.

2. Anna

Caregivers and environment. The girl with pseudonym Anna lived in Prague since birth. During the recorded period, she lived in a flat in the city center (shortly before, they moved from a smaller flat in the suburbs). In the first two years of age, she spent most of the time with her father and mother. From 24 months, she went to a daycare center twice a week for the whole day, from 36 months, it was 5 days a week (in a different daycare center). Both of her grandmothers and her aunt looked after her once a week each. Both parents come from the southern part of Czech Republic (České Budějovice). Her father was 32 years old when Anna was born. He has university education and is a scientist. Her mother was 27 years old when Anna was born. She has university education and is a cultural manager. Anna was their first child. When she was 25 months old, her younger sister Iva (pseudonym) was born.

Recordings. Recording with Anna started at 1;9.30 and continued until 2;7.27 with the median interval of 21 days between recordings (range from 14 to 42 days). The median length of a recording is 0:27:33 (range from 0:07:00 to 0:55:13). So far, there are 11 recordings of total length of 5:09:42. Together, there are 14 recordings of total length of 6:29:54. The recording was usually made by the father, sometimes by a grandmother. Occasionally, the mother and the sister also appear on the recordings. The recorded situations always take place at home while reading, putting to sleep, playing or eating. The recorded period was between 2017 and 2018. Anna’s original audiorecordings are available to other researchers upon request.

3. Jan

Caregivers and environment. The boy with pseudonym Jan lived from birth on in a flat in the broader center of Prague. From the age of 14 months, he went to a daycare center two- or three times per week. Otherwise, he spent most of his time with his father and mother. Approximately once a week, he spent several hours with his grandparents. From 29 to 37 months, he went to another daycare center for 4 days in a week. His father was 32 years old when Jan was born. He lived in Prague since birth. Jan‘s mother was 27 years old when Jan was born. She is from Brno, but no regionalisms usually occur in her speech. Both the parents are lawyers. Jan was a single child during the whole recording period.

Recordings. Recording with Jan started at 1;7.5 and continued until 2;9.27 with the median interval of 17 days between recordings (range from 1 to 88 days). The median length of a recording is 0:19:26 (range from 0:06:20 to 0:51:27). Together, there are 21 recordings of total length of 7:11:13. The recordings were usually made by the mother. Occassionally, the father also appears on the recordings. The recorded situations always take place at home while drawing, reading, playing, eating and housework. The recorded period was between 2016 and 2017. Jan’s original audiorecordings are not available.

4. Julie

Caregivers and environment. The girl with pseudonym Julie lives in the metropolitan area of Prague since birth. She was spending most of the time with her mother. Each day, she also spent some time with her father and approximately once a week, she was with her grandparents for several hours. From 36 months, Julie spent a half-day in a daycare center two times a week. From 40 months, she changed the institution and went there once for half a day and once for the whole day. Her father was 30 years old when Julie was born. He comes from the same place where the family lives now. He has university education and works as an IT-specialist. Julie‘s mother was 29 when Julie was born. She is from Prague. She has university education and is a photographer. Julie was the first child. When she was 19 months old, her younger sister Žofie was born.

Recordings. Recording with Julie started at 1;7.5 and continued until 3;9.11 with the median interval of 22 days between recordings (range from 14 to 89 days). The median length of a recording is 0:29:23 (range from 0:07:57 to 0:50:18). Together, there are 32 recordings of total length of 14:00:53. The recording was always provided by the mother. From her birth, the sister is often present while recording. Occasionally, the father also appears in the recordings. The recorded situations always take place at home while drawing, reading, playing or eating. The recorded period was between 2016 and 2018. Julie’s original audiorecordings are available to other researchers upon request.

5. Klára

Caregivers and environment. The girl with pseudonym Klára lived since birth in Hradec Králové, the 8th largest Czech city with a population of 94.000. During the recorded period, she lived in a flat at the edge of the city. From 32 months, she went to a preschool regularly Monday through Friday. Before that, she had no babysitters and spent her time with her mother and father. Her father comes from the eastern part of Czech Republic. He was 36 years old when Klára was born. He has university education and has an office job. Klára’s mother comes from a small town in the eastern Bohemia and she studied in Brno. She was 33 years old when Klára was born. She has university education and works as an elementary school teacher. Klára has an older brother Vojtěch. He was 34 months old when Klára was born.

Recordings. Recording with Klára started at 2;4.22 and continued until 3;4.24 with the median interval of 7 days between recordings (range from 1 to 65 days). The median length of a recording is 0:07:00 (range from 0:01:11 – in an additional recording when there was more then one in a day – to 0:17:34). Together, there are 38 recordings of total length of 4:41:09. The recording was always made by the mother. The father and especially the brother often appear on the recordings. The recorded situations mostly take place at home while playing, eating or in a bath. The recorded period was between 2014 and 2015. Klára’s original audiorecordings are available to other researchers upon request.

6. Viktor

Caregivers and environment. The boy with pseudonym Viktor lived in the city center of Prague from birth on. He was spending most of the time with his father and mother. During the recorded period, he went to a daycare center two or three times a week and had three babysitters (family friends). First of them looked after him two or three days each week for several hours, the two others once a week for several hours. The first babysitter stopped meeting the family shortly before the end of the recording. Viktor‘s father was 45 years old when Viktor was born. He comes from a small town near Prague. He has high school education and makes musical instruments. Viktor‘s mother was 29 when Viktor was born. She was born in northern Moravia, but has lived in Prague most of her life. She has university education and was a graduate student during the recording. Viktor was the first child. When he was 34 months old, his younger brother Melichar (pseudonym) was born.

Recordings. Recording with Viktor started at 2;6.23 and and continued until 3;8.06 with the median interval of 14 days between recordings (range from 2 to 36 days). The median length of a recording is 0:23:19 (range from 0:07:34 to 0:56:38). Together, there are 32 recordings of total length of 14:22:44. The recording was usually provided by the mother, sometimes also by the father. His younger brother was usually present while recording since he was born. The recorded situations take usually place at home while reading or playing. The recorded period was between 2014 and 2016. Viktor’s original audiorecordings are available to other researchers upon request.