Phonological Processing

Phonological processes are a way for young children to simplify the way they talk. While learning to talk, children make speech easier for themselves by producing simpler sounds instead of making the more effortful or difficult sound that the word needs. For example, a child may say “top” for “stop” or “wed” for “red”. Phonological processes are a normal part of early childhood development and should naturally be resolved during a child’s early years. However, for some children, incorrectly using phonological processes becomes routine and continues beyond the average age of elimination. For example, a child may be capable of correctly producing the /k/ sound, but when they need to say “cookie” the child incorrectly says “tootie.” There are 24 phonological processes. The following chart highlights 7 of the problematic phonological processes.

The Twelve Core Phonological Processes and the age at which they should be eliminated are as follows:

• SYLLABLE REDUCTION occurs when a child omits/leaves out a syllable from a word with more than one syllable. Examples of SYLLABLE REDUCTION: incorrectly say “ehfunt” instead of “elephant,” incorrectly say “sketti” for “spaghetti,” or incorrectly say “vegbul” for “vegetable.” Although common in the early stages of childhood, SYLLABLE REDUCTION is expected to be resolved by the age of 2-yrs-6-mos.
• FINAL CONSONANT DELETION occurs when a child omits the final consonant sound in words. Examples: incorrectly say “cu” for “cup,” or say “fro” for “frog,” or incorrectly say “schoo” for “school.” Although common in the early stages of childhood, FINAL CONSONANT DELETION is expected to be resolved by the age of 3 years.
• VELAR FRONTING is replacing back-of-the-mouth sounds like /k/ and /g/ with front-of-the-mouth sounds like /t/ and /d/. Examples of VELAR FRONTING: incorrectly say ”tup” for ”cup” or ”dot” for ”got” or incorrectly say “tootie” for “cookie.” While common in the early stages of childhood, VELAR FRONTING is expected to be resolved by the age of 3 years.
• PALATAL FRONTING occurs when palatal sounds (sounds made with the body of the tongue raised to hard palate, mid-roof region of the mouth) such as /sh, zh, ch, j) are replaced by sounds made at the front of the mouth, typically the alveolar sounds /s/, /z/, /t/, and /d/. Examples of PALATAL FRONTING: incorrectly say “seep” for “sheep,” or say “tair” for “chair,” or incorrectly say “duice” for “juice.” While common in the early stages of childhood, PALATAL FRONTING is expected to be resolved by the age of 3 years.
• STOPPING occurs when a child uses an easier to produce “stop sound” such as /p, b, t, d, k, g/ instead of the needed fricative or affricate sound /f, v, th, s, z, sh, ch, j/ that requires more effort and airflow. Essentially, a child is simplifying their speech but speaking incorrectly. Examples of STOPPING: incorrectly say “pish” for “fish,” or say “tum” for “thumb,” or incorrectly say “bacoom” for “vacuum,” or incorrectly say “dump” for “jump.” Although common in the early stages of childhood, STOPPING is expected to be resolved by the age of 3-yrs-6-mos.
• INITIAL VOICING (aka Prevocalic Voicing) occurs when a child needs to use a voiceless (no vocal fold vibration) consonant such as /p, t, k, f, s/ at the beginning of a word or syllable, but substitutes the needed sound with a voiced (vocal folds vibrate) sound such as /b, d, g, v, z/. Examples of INITIAL VOICING: incorrectly say “gup” for “cup,” or say “zilly” for “silly,” or say “gat” for “cat,” or incorrectly say “doy” instead of “toy.” Although common in the early stages of childhood, INITIAL VOICING (Prevocalic Voicing) is expected to be resolved by the age of 3-yrs-6-mos.
• CLUSTER SIMPLIFICATION occurs when a child simplifies a word by omitting, substituting, or changing one or more consonants in a sound cluster (blend). Examples of CLUSTER SIMPLIFICATION: incorrectly say “poon” for “spoon,” or say “tuck” for “truck,” or say “boo” for “blue,” or say “pate” for “plate.” Although common in early childhood, CLUSTER SIMPLIFICATION is expected to be resolved by the age of 4 years.
• DEAFFRICATION is a sound substitution pattern that occurs when a child replaces the sounds “ch” and ‘j’ with easier to produce sounds such as /sh, s, z, t, d/. Examples of DEAFFRICATION: incorrectly say “ship” for “chip,” or say “sheese” for “cheese,” or incorrectly say “dump” for “jump.” DEAFFRICATION is expected to be resolved by the age of 4 years.
• FINAL DEVOICING occurs at the end of a word of syllable. It is when a child needs to use a voiced sound such as /b, d, g, v, z, or ch/ but incorrectly uses a voiceless sound like /p, t, k, f , s, or sh/. Examples of FINAL DEVOICING: incorrectly say “bat” for “bad,” or say “cash” instead of “catch,” or say “pick” for “pig.” Although common in the early stages of childhood, FINAL DEVOICING is expected to be resolved by the age of 4 years.
• STRIDENCY DELETION occurs when a child simplifies or deletes strident sounds such as /s, z, sh, ch, j/ when speaking and replaces these stridents with non-strident sounds. Examples of STRIDENCY DELETION: incorrectly say “teez” for “cheese,” or say “doo” for “zoo,” or incorrectly say “tip” for “ship.” Although common in the early stages of childhood, STRIDENCY DELETION is expected to be resolved by the age of 4-yrs-6-mos.
• VOCALIZATION (aka Vowelization) is the substitution of a vowel-like sound or diphthong for a liquid sound /l/ or /r/ sound. Examples of VOCALIZATION: incorrectly say “bayuhw” for “bear;” incorrectly say “tabehw” for “table;” say “puzzehw” for “puzzle;” say “brothehw” for “brother.” Although common in early childhood, VOCALIZATION is expected to be resolved by the age of 6-to-7 years.
• GLIDING is a form of sound substitution. GLIDING occurs when a child uses the sounds /w/ or /y/ when they need to use the /r/ or /l/ sound. Examples of GLIDING: incorrectly say “wabbit” for “rabbit;” say “yeyo” for “yellow;” or say “wed” for “red.” Although common in early childhood, GLIDING is expected to be resolved by the age of 6-to-7 years.