Abstract
Purpose When learning novel word forms, preschoolers with developmental language disorder (DLD; also known as specific language impairment) produce speech targets inaccurately and with a high degree of intraword variability. The aim of the current study is to specify whether and how layering lexical-semantic information onto novel phonological strings would induce increased organization of sound production patterns. Method Twenty-one preschoolers with DLD and 21 peers with typical language (ranging in age from 4;1 to 5;11 [years;months]) imitated multiple renditions of novel words, half with (i.e., words) and half without (i.e., nonwords) a linked visual referent. Methods from network science were used to assess the stability and patterning of syllable sequences. Sound accuracy was also measured. Results Children with DLD were less accurate and more variable than their typical peers. However, once word forms were associated with a visual referent, network stability, but not accuracy, improved for children with DLD. Conclusions Children with DLD showed significant word form deficits as they acquired novel words and nonwords. The inclusion of a meaningful referent resulted in increased sound sequence stability, suggesting that lexical-semantic information provides a bootstrap for phonological organization in children with DLD.