Journal of Child Language Acquisition and Development – JCLAD
Vol: 9 Issue: 4 413-428, 2021

ISSN: 2148-1997

413

The developmental realization of ejectives by typically
developing Amharic speaking children

Fikre Diress Alamirew1

Addis Ababa University

Abebayehu Messele Mekonnen2
Addis Ababa University

Abstract

The current study describes the developmental realization of ejectives by

typically developing Amharic-speaking children. It employed cross-sectional

research method in order to collect the primary children’s speeches data within

a given period. Children’s speeches data were audio-recorded, using single-
words, sentence repetition, and spontaneous elicitation mode tasks. The audio-

recorded data were transcribed using IPA and ExtIPA and analyzed. The result

obtained from, aged between 3; 0 a and 5; 0, 32 children indicated the different

realizations of ejectives. Majority of this age bound children under this study

produced the ejective/p’/,/t’/,/k’/,/tʃ’/and/s’/properly and had a target

realization when the consonants appeared as a singleton in a word but if they
were clustered, they had a possibly to be dropped. On the other hand, there

were some children, from different age groups, totally substituted these ejectives

by their pulmonic counterparts as/p’/ [p],/t’/ [t],/tʃ’/ [tʃ],/k’/ [k] and/s’/

[s] and these developmental patterns detected in these children’s speeches were

similar to ones, which have already been reported in other local languages (e.g.
Sidamuu Affoo). However, the realization of the ejective /t’/ [th] and/tʃ’/ [th] or

[t’] and /s’/ [tʃ’] were uniquely observed in aged between 3;10 and 5;0 three

children’s production. Such developmental patterns detected at later age might

pose surmise whether they are typically language-related or a sign of delay and

it may require a depth study including more participants and designing

particular task. Generally, this study confirmed that majority of Amharic
speaking children were able to master the production of ejective consonants

before at age four. However, the complete target realization of such consonants

is likely a time taking process, which goes beyond the age bound in some

children language development. This implies that some children require

continues exposure to these consonants in different word positions and need to
have oral practice at school and at home to foster the acquisition process.

Keywords: Language acquisition, language development, phonology, consonant

realization, and ejectives

1 Mrs. Fikre Diress is a PHD candidate in the department of Foreign Language and

Literature at Addis Ababa University and instructor at Ambo University. Her research

interests include language acquisition, language development and language learning.

fikrediress@gmail.com
2 Dr. Abebayehu Messele Mekonnen is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Linguistics in the

Department of Linguistics, Addis Ababa University, and Ethiopia. His research interest
includes phoneticsand phonology, typical and atypical speech/language development, co

mmunication disorders, and language based learning disabilities.
abebayehu.messele@aau.edu.et

Received : 28.10.2021

Accepted : 01.12.2021
Published : 29.12.2021

mailto:fikrediress@gmail.com
mailto:abebayehu.messele@aau.edu.et

The Developmental realization of Ejectives Alamirew and Mekonnen

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1. Introduction

Language is one of the defining human characteristics; children of all
cultures acquire a native language, and they do so without a need of formal
instruction. At first a new born child does not have any knowledge or

experience when he/she comes to this world even if he/she is biologically
ready to learn from the environment; his/her brain is just like a white paper

on which nothing is spotted. However, a child is able to accumulate ideas,
thoughts, and expertise through experience and the exposure he/she gets
from the surrounding. It is believed that the interaction between nature and

nurture plays an invaluable role in children’s all-round development in
general, and in language development in particular (Pinker, 2004; Sabahat,
2012).

Language acquisition is a process by which children attain the capacity to
perceive and understand sound systems, as well as develop different

category of lexicons and sentences. Language acquisition is one of a typical
child behavior, which can be developed through time and enables he/she to
make use of sophisticated means of communication when they grow old

(Ferguson, 1964). However, the regularity and speed in which a child
acquires target language has prompted researchers to question whether a

language is learned in any meaningful sense or not.
This has built long standing theories, which describe the child’s language
development and acquisition process. On first language acquisition,

especially, various studies have been conducted for different reasons, in
various approaches at the very depths to describe how the acquisition of
language takes place without adults formally teaching them and without

conscious learning. This debatable issue for many years has also posed
many questions and still studies have been carried out on various features of

the target languages to address whether the acquisition process is cross
linguistically the same or different. In reference to this, Lust (2006) noted
that the growing studies of language acquisition have focused to answer

several questions. Some deal with phonological aspects of the language,
whereas the others focus on lexicon or morphosyntactic features.
However, from researchers’ different areas of focus on children’s language

acquisition, child’s phonology has been the one, which has gained a great
attention for many years. Different studies (Beckmanet al, 2009; Ingram,

1974; Rose & Sharon, 2011) have described the acquisition of segmental
aspects of language, such as the order of consonant acquisition, mastery of
segmental features, like voicing and devoicing. Other researchers have also

focused on the development of various suprasegmental features such as
syllable structure (Dodd, 1995; Watson, 1997; Demuth et al, 2014), tone,

stress/intonation patterns, etc. (Kehoe, 2001) and studies have explained
the different features of phonological development and designed different
models and theories.

As the theories and models have indicated, most of the phonological
acquisition studies have focused for the last three decades in most European

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Vol: 9 Issue: 4 413-428, 2021

ISSN: 2148-1997

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and Asian languages (Ferguson 1964; Ingram, 1989; Wyatt, 1994).However,
the acquisition of phonology in many African languages has not been

addressed properly despite some studies’ reports. For example, Demuth
(2010) in the acquisition of Sesseato passives; Takeida (2011) on a

significant role caregiver-infant interaction in children’s language
development and Deen, KamilUd (2002) the acquisition of Nairobi Swahili:
The morphosyntax of inflectional prefixes and subjects.

The current study was conducted in Ethiopian, which is one of east African
countries where more than 80 languages are spoken. In spite of this fact,
studies on the acquisition of Ethiopian languages are very few. Only few

studies were traced during this study. In Amharic, Abebayehu (2013) has
dedicated chapters of his Ph.D. dissertation to a description of

developmental speech sound realizations and Ebenezer (2013) examined the
nature of child language and baby talk. Similarly, Tariku (2019) has reported
the acquisition of Afaan Oromo Phonology and Abebayehu and Demeke

(2017) described aspects of phonological acquisition in children speaking
Sidamuu Afoo. These local researchers have made significant contributions

towards the efforts to fill the gap in the area of languages acquisition.
However, there are number of language acquisition issues, which have not
been addressed yet. Thus, the present study aims to contribute to filling the

gap by describing the developmental realization of ejectives by aged between
3;0 and 5;0 typically developing Amharic-speaking children. The following
questions were also set to be answered in this ongoing research findings.

1.1. Research questions

This study was designed to answer the following questions.
I. How does the developmental realization of ejectives look like in

Amharic?

II. What are developmental realization patterns of ejectives observed in
aged 3;0 and5;0 years children?

III. What is the theoretical and the practical implications of the finding of

the current study?

1.2. Summary of phonological theories
This study aims to describe the developmental realization of ejectives by
typically developing children acquiring Amharic language. The result from

the current study is believed to contribute to the knowledge of language
acquisition in general and the acquisition of Amharic phonology in

particular. Therefore, this, the theoretical framework in this section is
written as follows. It was also discussed based on the most common types of
theoretical frameworks /approaches/ used in language acquisition research.

In language acquisition research, the major theoretical argument is between
the two frameworks, rationalists, and impressionists. In this regard,
literature has tended to focus on the distinguishing between the two

theoretical approaches that have proposed different accounts for the

The Developmental realization of Ejectives Alamirew and Mekonnen

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acquisition phonology Bybee,2006). Several researchers show domain-

specific models to explain various features of phonological development like
how the speech stream is segmented and word learning happens. Along with

this proposal, different ideas were suggested on how children identify the
speech sounds and produce a word, what shape and representations of
lexical entries have, and how they are acquired. Different approaches and

models are directly connected to phonological acquisition, which takes place
in children’s language development process (Renner, 2017).
The general model of phonological development is one of the earliest

endeavors; Jackson designed it1968) and grounded his model on diary
studies and took it as a paralinguistic period of babbling and a period of

phonological acquisition. As his proposal, universal structures guide
phonological acquisition; it means, most common sounds cross-linguistically
are acquired first. Jacobson’s effort was very central to the relatively short

history of child phonology and considered as a good promoter for advanced
research on child language acquisition and development (Renner, 2017;

Stoel Gamon, 2010). On the other hand, Rule-based theory, which was
proposed by Chomsky and Halle (1968), has taken into account the
generative phonology. The attention of this phonological theory relied on the

connection between abstract and surface forms: in other words, it was the
only in its time for its’ rule-based account of phonology, which tried to show
the rules of how phonemes or classes of phonemes were produced under a

specified time.
The theory is taken as one of the basic views, which examine a child’s

speech production by applying a set of phonological rules. As applied to child
phonology, generative rules were used to describe children’s simplifications
of adult phonemes such as[+continuant] segments (fricatives) becoming

[continent] (stops) in certain word positions (Smith, 1973). Similarly, Stampe
(1969) tried to show the theory of natural phonology which was established

by describing a set of universal and native phonological processes. These
were used to apply to adult and child speech. As the theory stated, to
acquire adult-like phonology, a child needs to pass different processes to

learn the sound systems that do not even occur in their language (Stampe,
1972). In short, these approaches comprise levels of the phrase and prosodic
words, going down to the grass root and syllable structures. It describes the

order of phonological features (Bernhardt & Stumberger, 1998).
On the other hand, Optimality Theory (OT) focuses on the view, which

organized input to enhance certain output forms rather than being process-
oriented. OT is outcome-oriented theory; it leads child philologists to focus
on the system of language acquisition and what is obtained in no adult-like

changes in the output instead of focusing on errors (Prince & Smolensk,
2004). In this theory, the child’s phonology is described as an actively
growing system, but it is not seen as a complete realization of adult

phonology. OT proposal deals with a universal set of contradictory
constraints of two basic types. The first one is nakedness constraints, which

do not allow the existence of marked structures in the output a constraint

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ISSN: 2148-1997

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on final consonant and faithfulness constraints, which needs the
requirement of matching between the input and output (Rose, 2009).

Generally, meaningful language development is a multifaceted process.
Concerning phonological development, children must acquire the sounds

system to produce words to match the adult targets; they must also
understand the phonological forms of words in their native language. This
complex process has two essential components. The first one is a biologically

based component associated with the development of the speech motor skills
required for the production of adult-like words and the second are a
cognitive linguistic component associated with learning the phonological

system of the ambient language. The cognitive aspect of phonological
learning entails the mental representation of sounds, which are stored and

accessed in the encoding and decoding of words. Some type of mental
representation is necessary for the perception and production of words. To
pronounce the word cat, for example, an individual child must have a stored

version of the sound sequence associated with the word; the individual child
must be able to differentiate the word cat from related sounding words, such

as hat, cap, cut, (Clark, 2005; Alqattan, 2015). In the same way, the
production of the word cat requires knowledge of the target sound sequence
and the articulatory movements that are necessary to distinguish it from

other words with similar sound patterns. Therefore, in children’s speeches,
sound development can be seen from phonetic as well as phonological
acquisition (Winitz, 1969).

The development of a phonological system is progressive and needs gradual
change. However, the sequence of contrast affects smaller sound units due

to the principle of extreme divergent form of the adult phonological systems.
Concerning this, Gleason & Nan (2009) tried to show the acquisition of
sound systems in terms of the distribution of sound among the world’s

languages. They have indicated that the most widely distributed sound is the
earlier to be acquired. Nasals, front, and stop consonants would be acquired
earlier than orals, back consonants, and fricatives, respectively, as children’s

language differ in certain features from adults. A good example of this is a
phonological inventory of children’s language in English indicating that

children use tore or sore for a store or a gig for pig.
Children are seen they are unable to produce certain sounds or sound
combinations of the adult language; they simplify the sound system of

language to make up the limitations. Studies on a child’s phonology provided
a certain process that can be seen in child language (Ingram, 1978 &,1989;

Stampe, 1973; Smith,1973; Menn, 1971, 1977). The processes are often
expressed as common changes that are seen in children's sound systems.
Children often create a suitable sound system for themselves so that they

produce an output of their form until they can produce adult-like words. In
other words, the processes described as the relations between the adult and
the child form.

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As far as children’s phonological processes are concerned, different scholars

(Ingram, 1989; Stoel-Gammon, 2006) categorized the process as cluster
reduction, omission, substitution and assimilation (consonant harmony).

From different phonological features that children pass through,
substitution of one consonant by others has divergent developmental
patterns: stopping, fronting, devoicing, backing, gliding as well as de-

ejectivisation (in some languages like Amharic). In sum, children pass
through certain phonological processes: especially, substitution, in general,
de-ejectivisation in particular was the focus of this article.

2. Methodology

The main aim of this study was to describe the developmental realization of
ejectives by typically developing Amharic speaking. Such a research in the
area of language acquisition often follows longitudinal and/or cross-sectional

research designs (Clark, 2003; O’Grady, 2006; Ingram, 1989). However, in
this study, cross-sectional research design was used. The researchers

preferred to use a cross-sectional study designed to collect data at once in a
given point of time across a sample population or a pre-defined subset
(Zoltan, 2007). Cross-sectional research design is helpful to include a large

representative sample and less demanding to recruit respondents. It also
allows researchers to gather a large size of data within a short period. The
method helps the researcher to see individual ability of producing various

phonological elements. According to Zoltan (2007) explanation, cross-
sectional data collection method is less exposed to detrimental factors like

unexpected external events that are beyond the researcher control (e.g.
children illness, drop out and other)

1.1. Participants
As part of the arrangement and for the choice of appropriate participants, it

was made brief discussions with school chief principals on the objectives of
the study and why the children get involved. Having the school’s consent, 60
children, aged between 3;0 and 5;0 were selected from the two schools. 30

children were from St Michael and 30 from Mentor Academy and the consent
letter were sent to those children’s parents. The final selection was made by
checking parent’s agreement and the appropriate information filled. Based

on the information collected from fifty returned sheets, thirty–two children
who and their parents did not speak other local languages except Amharic,

were selected purposively. Sixteen female and sixteen male children were
grouped in to four places according to their age with five-month intervals as
presented as follows.

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ISSN: 2148-1997

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Table 1
Participants demographic data

Code Name Sex Age Code Name Sex Age

Group 1 GROUP 3

C1 TSN F 3;1;16 C17 BTHY F 4;5;0

C2 HLN F 3;2;5 C18 HNA F 4;5;12

C3 AMN F 3; 2;23 C19 IDY F 4;5;19

C4 MKL F 3;2;14 C20 FKR F 4;5;2

C5 NTN M 3;3;15 C21 AMN2 M 4;6;7

C6 ELS M 3;3:6 C22 KAL M 4;5;21

C7 HRY M 3;2;26 C23 EBN M 4;6;9

C8 EYB 1 M 3;3: 8 C24 EPR M 4;5;0

Group 2 Group 4

C9 BLN F 3;9:23 C25 SOL.M F 4;11;10

C10 SOL.G F 3;10:2 C26 SMR F 4;11:6

C11 DGM F 3;11:28 C27 RDT 2 F 4;11;20

C12 RDT.B F 3;10 C28 LDY F 4;11;26

C13 EYB2 M 3;1017 C29 ELNT M 4;11;23

C14 AMN 1 M 3;9:24 C30 AMR M 4;11;12

C15 MKYS M 4;0:5 C31 NOD M 4;11:21

C16 BRK M 3;10:7 C32 EYB.G M 4;11;2

1.2. Data collection and processing

Children’s speech data were collected using single-words, sentence

repetition, and spontaneous elicitation modes. The speech data were audio-
recorded using a modern audio recorder and transcribed using IPA and Exist
IPA. The transcription was done in ELAN linguistic annotator tools as it was

easy for phonological segmentation and was helpful to display different
words to see the developmental realization of various consonants.

1.3. Data analysis

The study had descriptive data analysis method. Children’s speeches were

transcribed, using analytical listening technique, following Ashby et al.
(1996). First, the analysis was done by classifying the different realizations of

the target words. Then, an error identification approach was used. Next, the
developmental realizations of different ejective consonants were identified
and analyzed. Finally, an attempt was made to forward a possible discussion

and conclusion.

3. Findings

In this section, it was attempted to describe and discuss the developmental
realizations of ejectives attested in children’s speeches production. Due to

spatial issue, the other substitution patterns were not included. However,
de-ejectivisation of ejective consonants was taken here to refer to the
developmental realizations of ejectives by non-ejective consonants.

The Developmental realization of Ejectives Alamirew and Mekonnen

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Table 2

The realization of the ejective /p’/ [p]

Example
Process Pattern Realization Target Gloss

De-ejectivisation /p’/ [p] etopa/ɨtopa etiopʼia Name of
Country

papas P’ap'a’s Bishop

tɘjɘpesa(AMN)
tɘrɘpesa(ELS,AMN2)

t’ɘlɘpeza(HLN)

t’ɘrɘp’eza Table

As the ejective /p’/ does not frequently appear in Amharic word formation,

the number of words detected in children’s speeches was also very limited.
However, it occurred in some words and was realized differently. Most of

aged between 4;0 and 5;0 years children correctly produced the ejective /p’/
but there were still some from different age groups who substituted/p’/ [p] in
this study. The realization of /p’/ [p] was also reported by Abebayehu and

Demeke (2017) in typically developing Sidamuu Afoo children.

Table 2

Developmental realization of /t’/ [t]or[th]

Process Patterns Word
position

Children Age
respectively

De-
ejectivisation

/t’/ [t]/[th] WI AMN,ELS,ELN,AMN2 3;1,3;3,3;10,4;6

WM HLN,ELS ELN,AMN2 3;2,3;3,3;10,4;6

Examples

De-ejectivisation

Pattern Realizatio
n

Target Gloss

/t’/ [t]/[
th]

tota t’ot’a Ape

kɨtəl k’ɨt’əl leaf

təntʃən t’ɨntʃəl rabbit

tɨkul t’ɨk’ul Black

tɨlle t’ɨre Cereals

ajɨtuan ajɨt’uan The rat

From thirty-two children,five of them realized/t’/differently. They substituted

/t’/ [t]; For example, the word /t’ot’a/ meaning ‘ape’, which was detected

in all children’s speeches, was consistently realized as [tota]. Similarly, the

word/t’ɨntʃəl/ ‘rabbit as [təntʃən]. These children also realized the target word

Process patterns Word
position

Children Age respectively

De-ejectivisation /p’/ [p] WI AMN,ELS,AMN2 3;1, 3;3,4;6

WM HLN ELS,AMN2 3;2,3;3, 4;6,

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ISSN: 2148-1997

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/k’ɨt’əl/‘leaf’ as [kɨtəl]. However, a 3;10 years old, ELN had a different realizati

on of the ejective /t’/ [th]. She totally replaced this ejective by aspirated

[th] in different words.

Table 3

The Realization of /tʃ’/ [tʃ] or[/ th]
Process patterns Word

position
Children Age

respectively

De-ejectivisation /tʃ’/
[tʃ]or[th]

WI AMN,ELS,AMN2 3;1, 3;3,4;6

WM HLN,ELS,AMN2
ELT

3;2,3;3,4;6,
&4;11

Examples

process Pattern Realization Target Gloss

De-ejectivisation

/tʃ’/

[tʃ]or[th]

totutotʰ tʃ'atʃ'utotʃ chickens

kutʃ kutʃ’ sit

ɨtʃawətaləhu
ɨtawotaləhu

ɨtʃ’awətaləhu I play

ʈʃamma ʈʃ’amma shoes

tʰatutotʰ tʃ’atʃ'utotʃ Chickens

pɨta bɨtʃ’a Yellow

afɨtʃa afɨtʃ’a nose

tʃɨla tʃ’ɨla tail

Like the ejective /t’/, the affricate-ejective/tʃ’/was also produced by most of

the children who were under this study; they had matured realization. This
enabled to say between aged 3;0 and 5;0 children were physiological mature

enough to be able to produce the ejective/tʃ’/ in different word positions
although there were still children who had different patterns. These few
children realized the affricate-ejective/tʃ’/ [tʃ]or[th].For instance, in the

word/ɨtʃ’awətaləhu/ ‘I play’ as [ɨtʃawətaləhu],/ʈʃ’amma/ ‘shoe’ as [ʈʃamma],the
ejective /tʃ/ was realized as [tʃ] as indicated in the above examples whereas,
the 3;10 year old ELN realized /tʃ’/ [th] in her entire words like in the

word /tʃ'atʃ'utotʃ/chickens’ as [thatutotʰ]. This girl had a unique realization
of different consonants, which were not included in this article. Indeed,

children who were unable to produce this ejective had a tendency to
substitute by its pulmonic counterpart [tʃ] or [th] but 4;11 years old boy
ELT substituted/tʃ’/by the other ejective /t’/ like in the word [afɨt’a] for the

target /afɨtʃ’a/ mean ‘nose’.

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Table 4

Realization of /k’/ [k]
process patterns Word

position
Children Age

respectively

De-
ejectivisation

/k’/ [k] WI AMN,HLN,ELS,
AMN2

3;1,3;2,3;3,4;6

WM
WF

AMN,HLN,ELS,A
MN2

3;2,3;3, 4;6,

Examples

De-ejectivisation

Pattern Realization Target Gloss

/k’/ [k]

kɨtəl k’ɨt’əl leaf

tɨkul t’ɨk’ul Black

ɨjələkəmu ɨjələk’əmu Sorting

tɨlɨk tɨlɨk’ big

kana k’ana Tv channel

bəkolo bək’olo Corn

kəj k’əj Red

kutɨl k’ut’ɨr number

By the same token, like other ejectives, majority of the children were able to
produce the ejective/k’/as singleton target consonant but if it was clustered,

it might have a possibility to be dropped or substituted. From thirty-two
children, who participated in this study, the realization of /k’/as [k] were
detected in AMN, HLN, ELS and AMN2. As depicted in the above table, these

children substituted /k’/ by its pulmonic counterpart [k] in the initial,
medial and final positions. For instance, the word /k’əj/ ‘red’ as [kəj] and

/k’ut’ɨr/ ‘number’ as [kutɨl] indicated that substitution of /k’/ as[k] at the
initial position. Similarly, substitution of /k’/as [k] was also observed at
medial position in the word /ɨjələk’əmu/ ‘sorting’ as [ɨjələkəmu], /bək’olo/

meaning ‘corn’ as [bəkolo] and at final positions it was found in the word
/tɨlɨk’/ ‘big’ as [tlɨk]

Table 5
Realization of /s’/ [s]or[tʃ’]

Process patterns Word
position

Children Age
respectively

De-ejectivisation /s’/
[s]or[tʃ]

WI AMN,HLN,ELS 3;1,3;2, 3;3,4;6

WM ,WF AMN,HLN,ELS 3;2,3;3, 4;6,

Examples

De-ejectivisation

Pattern Realization Target Gloss

/s’/ [s]or[tʃ’]

səj (ELS) s’əhaj The sun

səɡul(HLN) s’əɡul hair

tʃ'aj (ELN) s’ əhaj The sun

tʃ'ɘlot(ELN) s’ɘlot pray

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ISSN: 2148-1997

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It may not be surprising if a few children substituted fricative- adjective/s’/
by its pulmonic counterpart /s/ as it is age related phenomenon but the

realization of/s’/ [tʃ’] was unique to AMN’s production. As far as this
fricative-ejective was concerned, it was difficult to reach to a firm conclusion

due to its rare occurrence in most children’s speeches. Words with fricative-
ejective /s’/ were only detected in ten children’s speeches, however, except
AMN, HLN and ELS, the other children were able to produce it properly. HLN

and ELS realized /s’/as [s] in two words but AMN had a different realization.
She repeatedly produced the word /s’əhaj/ means ‘the sun’ and /s’ɘlot/
‘pray as [tʃ’'aj] and [tʃ'ɘlot] substituting /s’/by the other affricate-ejective [tʃ'].

4. Discussion

This study was conducted by employing cross-sectional research method to
take speech’s data within a short period. The data collected from different
tasks were audio- recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. As the finding of the

study in different tables indicated, majority of the children who participated
in this study produced the target ejectives properly in different word

positions. However, non-target realizations patterns were also detected
within the same age group children’s speeches. The substitution of ejectives
by their pulmonic counterparts like /p’/→[p] ,/t’/→[t] or[th], /k’/→[k],

/ʧ’/→[ʧ] and /s’/→[s] were apparently common in some children' speeches
in this study. Abebayehu and Demeke (2017) also reported such
developmental patterns in Sidamuu Affoo speaking children. Similarly,

Abebayehu (2008) also described the continuous de-ejectivisation of ejectives
by their pulmonic counterparts in Amharic speaking children with speech

delay.

In general, majority of three to five years old children, especially, who joined

preschool education earlier than others did master the production of ejective
as singleton consonants. On the other hand, there were children who
substituted these consonants by their pulmonic counterparts. This may be

taken as age-appropriate in aged 3;0-3;3 children’s speeches as similar
patterns have already been identified in other local language (e. g. Sidamuu

Affoo) the sin same age level. However, the realization of /ʧ’/→ [t’] or [th,] and
/s’/→[ʧ’] were uniquely attested in three children’s (ELN (3;10) AMN2(4;6)
and ELN (4;11) speeches. These patterns of realization attested in aged three

to five years children may be taken normal or a sign of delay in their
acquisition process requires study in depth including more participants.

5. Conclusion
The development of children’s speech production and the realization of the

target consonants are likely pre-determined by the amount of input children
get from the families and school environment. The continuous oral practice
made by the children in different age levels at the school and home fosters

the acquisition of different consonants as whole and ejectives in particular.

The Developmental realization of Ejectives Alamirew and Mekonnen

424

As researchers’ observation, children who had joined to preschool education

earlier than others had better production of different consonants. Especially,
aged between four and five children pronounced the target ejectives

properly. However, the non-target realizations were also attested in some
children’s speeches and are likely taken as a sign that the complete
acquisition of these consonants requires long period until age five or even

later than this level. This may have different contributing factors. Hence, in
order to understand comprehensively, to come to a sound conclusion and
profile the non-target realization of ejectives, large-scale study which include

a large number of participants and specific target tasks on Amharic
consonant phonemes in general, ejectives in particular, is required. In

addition to this, in order to theorize, the non-target realization of ejectives
whether they are age appropriate or sign of delay, there is a need to be
checked by continuous oral therapy.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Amharic consonant phonemes

Bilabial Labio-

dental

Dental Alveol

Postalveola

r Palatal vela

Glottal

Stops P b t d k k ɡ ʔ

Affricative ʧʤ

Nasal M n ɲ

Fricative f v s z ʃʒ h

Trill r

Approximates W j

Lateral l

Ejectives stops P’ t’ k’

Ejecte ejective affricative ʧ’

Ejective fricative s’

Appendix 2

Amharic vowels phonemes

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Appendix 3

The frequency of the occurrence of different Amharic consonant phonemes