PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN TYPICAL SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

All children make predictable pronunciation errors (not really 'errors' at all, when you stop to
think about it) when they are learning to talk like adults. These 'errors' are called
phonological processes, or phonological deviations. In Table 2 are the common phonological
processes found in children's speech while they are learning the adult sound-system of
English.
Phonological
Process

Example

Description

Pre-vocalic
voicing

car = gar

A voiceless sound preceding a vowel is replaced by a

voiced sound.

Word final
devoicing

red = ret

A final voiced consonant is replaced by a voiceless

consonant

Final consonant
boat = bo
deletion

A final consonant is omitted (deleted) from a word.

Velar fronting

car = tar

A back sound is replaced by a front sound.

Palatal fronting

ship = sip

sh or zh are replaced b y s or z respectively

Consonant
harmony

cup = pup

The pronunciation of a word is influenced by one of the

sounds it 'should' contain.

Weak syllable
deletion

telephone =
teffone

Weak (unstressed) syllables are deleted from words of

more than one syllable.

Cluster reduction try = ty

A cluster element is deleted or replaced.

Gliding of liquids ladder = wadder Liquids are replaced by glides.

Stopping

ship = tip

A stop consonant replaces a fricative or affricate.

PHONOLOGICAL EXAMPLE
DESCRIPTION
PROCESS
(Phonological
Deviation)
Context sensitive "Pig" is pronounced and A voiceless sound is replaced by a voiced
voicing
"big"
sound. In the examples given, /p/ is replaced by
"Car" is pronounced as /b/, and /k/ is replaced by /g/. Other examples
"gar"
might include /t/ being replaced by /d/, or /f/
being replaced by /v/.
Word-final
"Red" is pronounced as A final voiced consonant in a word is replaced
devoicing
"ret"
by a voiceless consonant. Here, /d/ has been
"Bag" is pronounced as replaced by /t/ and /g/ has been replaced by /k/.
"bak"

Final
consonant "Home" is pronounced a The final consonant in the word is omitted. In
deletion
"hoe"
these examples, /m/ is omitted (or deleted) from
"Calf" is pronounced as "home" and /f/ is omitted from "calf".
"cah"
Velar fronting
"Kiss" is pronounced as A velar consonant, that is a sound that is
"tiss"
normally made with the middle of the tongue in
"Give" is pronounced as contact with the palate towards the back of the
"div"
mouth, is replaced with consonant produced at
"Wing" is pronounced as the front of the mouth. Hence /k/ is replaced
"win"
by /t/, /g/ is replaced by /d/, and 'ng' is replaced
by /n/.
Palatal fronting
"Ship" is pronounced as The fricative consonants 'sh' and 'zh' are
"sip"
replaced by fricatives that are made further
"Measure" is pronounced forward on the palate, towards the front teeth.
as "mezza"
'sh' is replaced by /s/, and 'zh' is replaced by /z/.
Consonant
"Cupboard"
is The pronunciation of the whole word is
harmony
pronounced as "pubbed" influenced by the presence of a particular
"dog" is pronounced as sound in the word. In these examples: (1) the /b/
"gog"
in "cupboard" causes the /k/ to be replaced /p/,
which is the voiceless cognate of /b/, and (2)
the /g/ in "dog" causes /d/ to be replaced by /g/.
Weak
syllable Telephone is pronounced Syllables are either stressed or unstressed. In
deletion
as "teffone" "Tidying" is "telephone" and "tidying" the second syllable is
pronounced as "tying"
"weak" or unstressed. In this phonological
process, weak syllables are omitted when the
child says the word.
Cluster reduction "Spider" is pronounced Consonant clusters occur when two or three
as "pider"
consonants occur in a sequence in a word. In
"Ant" is pronounced as cluster reduction part of the cluster is omitted.
"at"
In these examples /s/ has been deleted from
"spider" and /n/ from "ant".
Gliding of liquids "Real" is pronounced as The liquid consonants /l/ and /r/ are replaced by
"weal"
/w/ or 'y'. In these examples, /r/ in "real" is
"Leg" is pronounced as replaced by /w/, and /l/ in "leg" is replaced by
"yeg"
'y'.
Stopping
"Funny" is pronounced A fricative consonant (/f/ /v/ /s/ /z/, 'sh', 'zh', 'th'
as "punny"
or /h/), or an affricate consonant ('ch' or /j/) is
"Jump" is pronounced as replaced by a stop consonant (/p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ or
"dump"
/g/). In these examples, /f/ in "funny" is replaced
by /p/ and 'j' in "jump" is replaced by /d/.