Language-specific prosodic acquisition: A comparison of phrase boundary perception by French- and German-learning infants

•Cross-linguistic infant study of general to language-specific prosody perception.•Identical stimuli reveal language-specific development in French and German.•Higher sensitivity to French prosody in German-learning than French-learning infants.•Structural variability in input enhances early perception of phonetic features.•By adulthood, enhanced prosodic sensitivity less apparent.