Competence in processing and generating phonological units in Williams syndrome, and elucidation of the prosodic structure

本研究为威廉姆斯综合征中语音单位的加工和产生能力的神经可塑性和自主性提供了证据。本研究基于被试在倒转字词（一种倒转字词的语言游戏）中的表现获得的无正字法音系数据，表明双发音和长元音具有共同的词汇结构。为了统一两个长音段的结构，本文在音系理论中引入了“浮动动词”的新概念。这项研究有助于提高人们对非典型语言的语言学相关性的认识，这本身就需要进行适当的语言学研究。

This research has presented evidence for the neuroplasticity and autonomousnature of competence in processing and generatingphonological units in Williams syndrome. Basedon orthography-free phonological data obtained from the subject’s performance in backward ludling (a word-reversing language game), this research has shown that geminates and long vowels share acommon lexical structure. To unify the structures of the two longsegments, it introduced a new concept of ‘floating mora’ in phonological theory. Thisresearch has contributed to raising awareness about the linguistic relevance of atypical language, which in itself warrants proper linguisticinvestigation.