Paper 3, Child Language Acquisition: Phonology notes

Phonological development in children

Children master vowels and phonemes at different speeds and some children learn to use phonemes earlier than others, the earliest consonants are m and n (nasals), then ‘p’ and ‘b’ follow (plosives) which are formed through imitation, the last phonemes to develop are the sounds ‘th’

Ease in consonant pronunciation

The initial position of the consonants are easier than the end of words, e.g. ‘t’ in teddy is easier than the terminal position in ‘sit’

Early 8 phonemes

Developed by age 3: m, b, y, n, w, d, p, h

Middle 8 phonemes

Developed by age 4 or 5: t, ng, k, g, f, v, ch, j

Late 8 phonemes

Developed by age 6 or 7: sh, th, s, z, l, r, zh

Reason for order of phoneme groups

The further back in the mouth and the more friction the sound requires, the later it develops

Addition

additional sounds, e.g. ‘doggy’ (diminutive forms)

Deletion

removal of sounds, e.g. do(g), cu(p)

Substitution

substitution of sounds, e.g. ‘dat’ for ‘that’

Assimilation

mixing up sounds, e.g. ‘gog’ for ‘dog’ or ‘babbit’ instead of ‘rabbit’

Reduction in consonant clusters

child reduces and simplifies a consonant cluster, e.g. ‘pider’ for ‘spider’

Reduplication

where sounds are repeated the same or with minimal difference, e.g. dada, mama, baba

Deletion of unstressed syllables

the omission of weak syllables in multi-syllable words, e.g. ‘nana’ for ‘banana’.

plosive sounds

explosive sounds

bilabial sounds

sounds produced at the front of the mouth (with both lips), e.g. ‘p’ and ‘b’

glottal sounds

sounds produced at the back of the mouth

glottal stop

breathy h sounds

alveolar sounds

sounds produced at the roof of the mouth (tongue on top of the mouth), ‘t’ and ‘d’

Velar

sounds produced at the back of your throat, e.g. ‘k’ and ‘g’