Phonological Processes

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. EXAMPLE DESCRIPTION Context sensitive voicing "Pig" is pronounced and "big" "Car" is pronounced as "gar" A voiceless sound is replaced by a voiced sound. In the examples given, Word-final devoicing "Red" is pronounced as "ret" "Bag" is pronounced as "bak" A final voiced consonant in a word is replaced by a voiceless consonant. Final consonant deletion "Home" is pronounced a "hoe" "Calf" is pronounced as "cah" The final consonant in the word is omitted. In these examples, /m/ is omitted (or deleted) from "home" and /f/ is omitted from "calf". Velar fronting "Kiss" is pronounced as "tiss" "Give" is pronounced as "div" "Wing" is pronounced as "win" A velar consonant, that is a sound that is normally made with the middle of the tongue in contact with the palate towards the back of the mouth, is replaced with consonant produced at the front of the mouth. Hence /k/ is replaced by /t/, /g/ is replaced by /d/, and 'ng' is replaced by /n/. Palatal fronting "Ship" is pronounced as "sip" "Measure" is pronounced as "mezza" The fricative consonants 'sh' and 'zh' are replaced by fricatives that are made further forward on the palate, towards the front teeth. 'sh' is replaced by /s/, and 'zh' is replaced by /z/. Consonant harmony "Cupboard" is pronounced as "pubbed" "dog" is pronounced as "gog" The pronunciation of the whole word is influenced by the presence of a particular sound in the word. In these examples: (1) the /b/ 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 deletion Telephone is pronounced as "teffone" "Tidying" is pronounced as "tying" Syllables are either stressed or unstressed. In "telephone" and "tidying" the second syllable is "weak" or unstressed. In this phonological process, weak syllables are omitted when the child says the word.