Get the focus right across languages: Acquisition of prosodic focus-marking in production

Languages differ in both the use of prosody in focus marking and prosodic systems. In the light of recent studies of acquisition of prosodic focus marking in typologically different languages, we argue that typological differences have direct influences on acquisition of prosodic focus marking. More specifically, differences in reliance on phonetic uses of prosody and transparency of how prosody is used phonologically to encode focus can lead to cross-linguistic differences in rate of acquisition. Differences in whether the prosodic means involved are also used for lexical purposes and in interface between prosody and word order can trigger cross-linguistic differences in route of acquisition.