Prosody, the rhythm and intonation of speech, plays a crucial role in language development from early infancy, as outlined in recent studies. This expressivity dimension serves as the foundation upon which linguistic structures—such as phonemes and grammar—are built, helping infants not only segment sounds but also begin to understand meaning long before they learn words.
Research in behavioral psychology and neuroimaging reveals that even fetuses respond to prosodic elements, like their mother's voice, through bone conduction, picking up rhythms that help in later language recognition. Studies show that infants as young as a few months old can distinguish between different languages based on prosody alone, showcasing its foundational role.
In adults, prosody aids in both emotional and linguistic comprehension, activating different hemispheres of the brain to interpret both the expressivity and content dimensions of speech. This complex interplay between prosody and linguistic elements highlights the integral role of both hemispheres in language processing.
The findings suggest that prosody isn’t just supplementary; it’s essential, opening new avenues for language learning and therapy. Understanding and leveraging prosody can offer significant benefits in second-language acquisition and rehabilitation for speech disorders.
full text: https://www.igminresearch.com/articles/html/igmin182
DOI Link: https://dx.doi.org/10.61927/igmin182
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