Some phonological characteristics of the speech of normal-hearing children of deaf parents.

Articulation and stress patterns of 5 hearing children of deaf parents were studied. The children's phonological processes were compared with those of children from normal-speaking homes and with those of their deaf mothers to identify similarities and differences. The phonological processes used most frequently by these children were those that have been identified as common processes among children from hearing homes. None of the children adopted, with any frequency, the less typical productions found in their mother's speech. This was also true for one of the children who was observed to produce articulation and stress patterns resembling "deaf" speech. Possible factors relating to the children's adoption of the standard speech model rather than deaf speech are discussed.