What are Phonological Processes?

What are Phonological Processes?

Phonological processes are the patterns of sound errors that typically developing young children use to simplify adult speech as they are learning to talk. All children use these processes while their speech and language are developing.

Young children do not yet have the ability to coordinate all the mouth structures such as the lips and tongue for clear speech, so they simplify complex words in predictable ways until they develop the coordination needed for clear articulation.

As children get older, their speech matures and they stop using these patterns to simplify words, which results in more understandable, adult-like speech. As every child is unique, each child will develop their phonology skills differently, but there are ages when it is expected that a child should stop using different phonological processes.

Below is a table describing the different phonological processes and the age by which they should likely disappear:

Substitution Processes

Phonological Process	Description	Examples	Gone by Approximately
Fronting	A sound produced in the back of the mouth, e.g. /k/ or /sh/, is replaced by a sound produced in the front of the mouth, e.g. /t/ or /s/.	car → tar sheep → seep	3:6 yrs
Backing	A sound produced in the front of the mouth, e.g. /t/ or /d/, is replaced by a sound produced in the back of the mouth, e.g. /k/ or /g/.	tap → cap duck → guck	Usually seen in more severe phonological delays.
Stopping	A fricative sound (e.g. /f/, /s/ or /sh/) or affricate sound (e.g. /ch/ or /j/) is replaced by a plosive/stop sound (e.g. /p/, /t/, /d/).	fish → pish sun → tun shoe → too thin → tin	3 yrs = /f/, /s/ 3:6 yrs = /v/, /z/ 4:6 yrs = ‘sh’, ‘ch’, ‘j’ 5 yrs = ‘th’
Deaffrication	An affricate (e.g. ‘ch’ or ‘j’), is replaced with a fricative or stop sound (e.g. ‘sh’ or ‘d’).	chips →  ships jump → dump	4 years
Gliding	Liquid sounds (/l/, /r/) are replaced by glide sounds (/y/, /w/).	leg → yeg ring → wing	5 yrs

Syllable Structure Processes

Phonological Process	Description	Examples	Gone by Approximately
Final consonant deletion	The final consonant in a word is deleted.	soap → sew dog → dah	3:3 yrs
Weak syllable deletion	The unstressed syllable in a word is deleted.	telephone →tephone banana → nana	4 yrs
Cluster reduction	A consonant cluster (two consonants next to one another) is reduced to a single consonant.	spoon → poon truck → tuck	4 yrs

Assimilation Processes

Phonological Process	Description	Examples	Gone by Approximately
Pre-vocalic voicing	An voiceless sound at the beginning of a word, e.g. /p/ or /k/, is replaced by a voiced sound, e.g. /b/ or /g/.	pig → big key → gey	3 yrs
Word final devoicing	A final voiced sound, e.g. /d/ or /g/, is replaced by a voiceless sound, e.g. /t/ or /k/.	bed → bet bag → bak	3 yrs
Consonant harmony	A sound starts to sound like another sound in the word.	bus → bub cat → tat	3:9 yrs

Click here to download the PDF version of this table.

A phonological delay is when a child continues to use these processes beyond the age when most typically developing children have stopped using them.

It is important to consider contacting a speech- and language therapist for an evaluation if you are concerned regarding your child’s speech intelligibility and/or suspect a phonological delay.

Information for this post was gathered from these sources:

1. http://mommyspeechtherapy.com/?p=2158
2. http://www.playingwithwords365.com/2011/09/phonological-processes-and-phonological-delay/
3. http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30:table2&catid=11:admin&Itemid=117
4. http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31:table3&catid=11:admin&Itemid=117

Post Submitted by Elmien Truter

How Swallowing Works

Ever wondered how we swallow? What appears to be a simple act is actually very complex! When we swallow, it happens in phases: 

  1. Oral phase

  2. Pharyngeal phase and 

  3. Oesophageal phase

Each phase must happen perfectly for us to swallow safely, and yet this process happens naturally. The oral phase begins once we put food or liquid in our mouths. We chew the food and move it around until it is ready to be swallowed.

  

From www.answers.com

 The pharyngeal phase follows when our tongue pushes the food back and the soft palate (small, flap-like structure at the back of our mouths) closes off the nasal cavity to stop the food or liquid from escaping through our nose. The food goes into our throats (pharynx-thus the name “pharyngeal phase”), and our vocal folds close (which closes off the airway and stops breathing) to prevent the food from entering our voice-box (larynx) and going down into our lungs.

The final phase is the oesophageal phase. The food is pushed into the oesophagus, which is the tube leading to our stomachs. A wave-like motion moves the food to our stomachs. The soft palate and vocal folds re-open so that we can breathe again.  In order for swallowing to be effective, each of these phases and muscles have to work in perfect unity, otherwise the simple act of eating becomes a very difficult process.

 Contributed by Maaliyah Orrie (Speech Therapist)

Hard to Swallow?

Dysphagia is the term used when a patient is having difficulty eating and swallowing. The difficulty can arise during any phase of the eating process. It results from any number of neurological or physical conditions. Most commonly it results from a stroke or head injury but can also be due to throat/neck cancer, degenerative disease and some medications, among others. Dysphagia’s most dangerous outcome is aspiration pneumonia. This results from food material being aspirated (“breathed into”) the lungs. The material then sits in the lungs and results in infection.

• Some symptoms that a person with dysphagia may have include:
•   Recurrent chest infections (pneumonia)
•  Unexplained weight loss
• Drooling or excess saliva
•   Sensation of food sticking in the throat
•  Food remaining behind in the mouth after the swallow
•    Dehydration
• An aversion to certain “difficult” foods
•    Loss or change of taste

If you suspect you or a loved one may have any of these symptoms then please contact a speech therapist in your area.  The assessment process will depend on the specific symptoms of the patient. The therapist will take a detailed history and will want to assess the patients swallowing using various consistencies. More in-depth assessment may be necessary. This may be a Modified Barium Swallow (MBS) or Fibroendoscopic Evaluation in conjunction with an Ear Nose and Throat specialist.