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Speech Sound Development:
Understanding Typical Error Patterns
Speech development is a gradual process...
...with children refining their ability to
produce clear speech sounds over time. As they develop language, it is common for children to use speech sound patterns that simplify difficult sounds. These patterns, known as phonological processes, are a typical part of development, but they should fade by a certain age. Below, we explore common phonological processes, their expected elimination ages, and examples of each pattern.
Common Error Patterns
& age they are typically gone by:
Velar Fronting e.g.
car →“tar”, go →“do”
Velar fronting occurs when
sounds produced at the back of the mouth like (/k/, /g/) are replaced with sounds made at the front such as (/t/, /d/).
Stopping e.g.
fish →“bish”, sun →“tun”
Stopping of fricatives happens when a child replaces a continuous fricative sound such as /f, s, v, z/ with a stop sound like /p, b, t, d/.
Final Consonant Deletion e.g.
bus →“bu”, can →“ca”
A common error where a child drops off the final sound in a word making speech harder to understand, especially when it affects many words.
Common Error Patterns
& age they are typically gone by:
Voicing e.g.
pie →“bye”, cat →“gat”
When a voiceless (quiet)
sound like /p, t, k/) is replaced
with a voiced (noisy) sound
such as (/b, d, g/).
Cluster Reduction e.g.
blue →“boo”, stop →“top”
When a consonant blend/
two consonants together (e.g.,
/bl/, /st/, /gr/) is simplified by
omitting one of the sounds.
Liquid Gliding e.g.
run →“won”, lion →“yion”
Liquid sounds such as (/r/, /l/)
are replaced with glides like
(/w/, /y/).
When Should I Be Concerned?
While these patterns are expected in early speech development, they should naturally resolve by the indicated ages. If a child continues using these patterns beyond their expected elimination age or has difficulty being understood by familiar listeners, it may be beneficial to seek support from a speech and language therapist.
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