What are
Phonological
Processes?
Phonological processes are the patterns that young children use
to simplify adult speech. All children use these processes while their
speech and language are developing. For example, very young
children (ages 1 to 3) may say “wa-wa” for “water” or “tat” for “cat.”
Other children may leave out the final sound in words (for example,
“pi” for “pig” or “ha“ for “hat.”) Up to age 3, these are appropriate
productions. As children mature, so does their speech and they stop
using these patterns to simplify words. In fact, by age 5, most children
stop using all phonological processes and their speech sounds more
like the adults around them.
As children stop using phonological processes, their speech
becomes more understandable. This allows them to become better
communicators. For example, between 11⁄2 and 2 years of age,
typically developing children may produce around 50 words.
Between the ages of 41⁄2 and 5 years, children are able to produce
up to 2,000 words. When children continue to apply these processes
or patterns to their speech AND learn new words at the same time,
their speech can become very difficult to understand. Many times the
children do not hear the differences in the words and will say one
word to mean three different ones. For example, children who
continue to delete the initial consonant from a word may say “all”
to mean each of these words: fall, ball, wall.
Types of Phonological Processes
Syllable Structure Processes
Sound changes that cause sounds or syllables to
be reduced in number, deleted, or repeated.
Final Consonant Deletion
is the deletion of the final consonant or consonant cluster
in a syllable or word.
Ex: “soap” /sop/ is pronounced “sew” /so/; “pig” /pg/ is pronounced “pi” /p/
Cluster Reduction
is the deletion of one or more consonants from a two or three
consonant cluster.
Ex: “spot” /spat/ is pronounced “pot” /pat/; “clown” /klaυn/ is pronounced “cown”
/kaυn/
Syllable Reduction
is the deletion of a syllable from a word containing two or more
syllables. The deletion usually occurs in the unstressed syllable.
Ex: “computer” /kəmpjut/ is pronounced “puter” /pjut/
Substitution Processes
Sound changes in which one sound class replaces
another class of sounds.
Gliding
occurs when /r/ becomes /w/ or /l/ becomes /w/ or /j/.
Ex: “rail” /rel/ is pronounced “whale” /wel/; “leap” /lip/ is pronounced “weep” /wip/
Vocalization
occurs when one of the following, /l/, //, or //, is replaced by a
more neutral vowel.
Ex: “seal” /sil/ is pronounced “sio” /sio/; “computer” /kəmpjut/ is pronounced
“computa” /kəmpjutυ/
Fronting (Velar and Palatal) is the substitution of sounds in the front of the mouth,
usually alveolars, for velar or palatal sounds.
Ex: “key” /ki/ is pronounced “tea” /ti/; “gate” /get/ is pronounced “date” /det/
Deaffrication
is the deletion of a stop component from an affricate leaving
only the continuant aspect.
Ex: “cheese” /iz/ is pronounced “sheese” /ʃiz/; “jar” /a/ is pronounced “zhar” /ɑ/
Stopping
is the substitution of a stop consonant for a fricative or an affricate.
Ex: “sail” /sel/ is pronounced “tail” /tel/; “knife” /naif/ is pronounced “knipe” /naip/
Assimilation Processes
Sound changes in which one sound or syllable
influences another sound or syllable.
Prevocalic Voicing
is the voicing of an initial voiceless consonant in a word.
Ex: “peach” /pitʃ/ is pronounced “beach”/bitʃ/
Postvocalic Devoicing
is the devoicing of a final voiced consonant in a word.
Ex: “bag” /bg/ is pronounced “back”/bk/
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