What is a Phonological Process?

When a child learns to speak, they often attempt to simplify adult speech into an easier speech pattern. These patterns are referred to as a phonological process. These processes typically occur in the early stages of speech and language development and typically disappear by a certain age. However, when these patterns remain in a child's speech past a certain age, they may need speech therapy to eliminate these speech errors. Examples of Phonological Processes: 1. Final Consonant Deletion: This is the process where a child will leave off the final consonant sound in words. For example, a child might say "ca" instead of "cat" or "do" instead of "dog". This process should be eliminated by the time a child is 3 years old. 2. Cluster Reduction: This is the process where a child attempts to simplify consonant clusters by producing a single consonant. For example, a child might say "pay" instead of "play" or "top" instead of "stop". This process should be eliminated by the time a child is 5 years old. 3. Stopping: This is the process where a child replaces a fricative (/s, z, f, v/) or for a stop consonant (/t, d, b, p/). For example, a child might say "tun" instead of "sun" or "do" instead of "zoo". This process should be eliminated by the time a child is 3 for /s/ and /f/ sounds and 4 for /z, v/ sound 4. Fronting: This is the process where a child replaces a sound that is supposed to be said in the back of the mouth for a sound said in the front of the mouth. For example, a child might say "do" instead of "go" or "tat" for "cat". This process should be eliminated by the time a child is 4 years old. An evaluation by a Speech Language Pathologist may be necessary to assist with diagnosing and treating these phonological processes. By Lindsay Edmonds, CCC, SLP