ABSTRACT
Serial ordering errors in adult speech reveal a frame/content mode of representation whereby content elements—consonants and vowels—are placed into syllable structure frames. It is suggested that the initial stages of reduplicative canonical babbling in infants can be characterized as primarily involving production of Pure Frames, in that control signals specific to single segments within the successive syllablelike babbling envelopes are virtually absent. Subsequent variegated babbling, and first words, which closely conform to babbling patterns, can be characterized primarily in terms of a process of frame differentiation by local modifications—a process proceeding toward independent representation of segments, but, for the most part, not closely approaching this result by the age of two.
