Patterns, not single sounds

Phonology

When a child swaps sounds in a predictable way - every K coming out as a T, every ending dropped - that is a phonological process, and it is usually a stage rather than a problem. Pick one to see what it sounds like, when it should sort itself out, and pairs of words to practise with.

Processes: 11
Minimal pairs: 180
Printables: 22 PDFs
Cost: Free

What is a phonological process?

A phonological process is a recurring way a child changes sounds while speech is developing. It is a pattern across words, such as saying “tea” for “key” and making similar front-for-back changes in other words. An SLP looks at the whole speech sample and the child’s languages and dialects before deciding whether a pattern needs support.

Phonological processes at a glance

An SLP reference to the main kinds of sound-pattern change. Select a linked process for its fuller explanation and materials.

Substitution

One sound or sound class takes the place of another.

Pattern	What changes	Example
Fronting	Back sounds move forward	key → tea
Stopping	A long airflow sound becomes a stop	fan → pan
Gliding	/r/ or /l/ becomes /w/ or /y/	rabbit → wabbit
Vowelization	A liquid sound becomes a vowel	car → cah
Prevocalic voicing	An initial sound becomes voiced	pig → big
Final devoicing	A final sound loses voicing	bag → back
Affrication	A sound becomes an affricate	shoe → chew
Deaffrication	An affricate becomes a fricative	chip → ship
Depalatalization	A palatal sound loses its palatal place	shark → sark
Alveolarization	A sound moves to an alveolar place	ship → sip
Labialization	A sound moves to a lip sound	take → pake

Syllable structure

A sound, cluster, or syllable is omitted or added.

Pattern	What changes	Example
Final consonant deletion	The ending consonant is left off	bus → buh
Cluster reduction	A consonant blend loses a sound	stop → top
Weak syllable deletion	An unstressed syllable is left off	banana → nana
Reduplication	A syllable is repeated	water → wawa
Epenthesis	An extra vowel is inserted	blue → buh-loo
Diminutization	An “ee” ending is added	cup → cuppy

Assimilation

A sound becomes more like another sound in the same word.

Pattern	What changes	Example
Velar assimilation	A sound takes on a nearby back-sound place	duck → guck
Nasal assimilation	A sound becomes nasal near another nasal	bunny → nunny
Denasalization	A nasal sound becomes nonnasal	nose → doze
Coalescence	Two sounds merge into one new sound	stop → fop

Atypical patterns

Patterns that merit closer assessment rather than a simple age comparison.

Pattern	What changes	Example
Backing	A front sound moves to the back	tea → key
Initial consonant deletion	The first consonant is left off	sun → un
Atypical cluster reduction	The consonant usually retained is omitted	black → lack
Fricative replacing a stop	A stop is replaced by a fricative	sit → sis
Glottal replacement	A consonant is replaced by a glottal stop	bat → baʔ
Medial consonant deletion	A consonant inside a word is omitted	spider → spier
Sound preference	One sound replaces many unrelated sounds	many sounds → /f/

Vowel changes

A vowel shifts toward a different tongue position; persistent or unusual changes need individual review.

Pattern	What changes	Example
Vowel backing	A front vowel moves farther back	see → soo
Vowel fronting	A back vowel moves forward	boot → beat

Examples are simplified English illustrations, not diagnoses. Consider the child’s languages, dialects, overall intelligibility, and full speech sample when interpreting a pattern. Developmental ages vary across sources and children. Adapted from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s Phonological Processes reference supplied for this project and ASHA’s selected phonological patterns.