We consider two theories of laryngeal representation, one using a single feature [voice] generalizing across prevoicing languages and aspiration languages, and the other using multiple features: [voice] for pre-voicing languages and [spread glottis] for aspiration languages. We derive predictions for children’s early productions, and test these for three Germanic languages. Children acquiring Dutch, a prevoicing language, show de-voicing of stops, while available data from German, an aspiration language, show de-aspiration. Although the difference might simply reflect intrinsic properties of children’s early production and perception systems, we argue that a representational account is in order, based on multiples features. The case is made for English, an aspiration language, based on the early productions of a single child. A laryngeal harmony pattern is found which spreads voicelessness from coda to onset, which is argued to involve activity of [spread glottis]. This is interpreted as evidence for a laryngeal representation involving multiple features.

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Toddlers' discrimination of native phonemic contrasts is generally unproblematic. Yet using those native contrasts in word learning and word recognition can be more challenging. In this article, we investigate perceptual versus phonological explanations for asymmetrical patterns found in early word recognition. We systematically investigated the use of two types of phonological contrasts in toddlers' word recognition: manner and place of articulation. Ninety-six Dutch 18-and 25-month-olds were tested in a mispronunciation detection task. We show that 18-month-olds are sensitive to changes from fricative to stop, but not from stop to fricative, while 25-month-olds are able to detect changes in both directions. Confirming earlier findings on perceptual asymmetries, we find a similar asymmetrical pattern for mispronunciations involving labials and coronals at 18 months of age. We argue that the observed asymmetries reflect the nature of phonological representations used for word recognition at different stages of development.