As children begin to speak, it is normal for them to say words differently sometimes. For example, your child may say “wain” instead of “rain” or “brela” for “umbrella”. This is okay when children are young, however can impact their ability to be understood as they grow older. Children should be able to be understood almost 100% of the time by 4 years of age Bowen, C. (2011)).

..." /> As children begin to speak, it is normal for them to say words differently sometimes. For example, your child may say “wain” instead of “rain” or “brela” for “umbrella”. This is okay when children are young, however can impact their ability to be understood as they grow older. Children should be able to be understood almost 100% of the time by 4 years of age Bowen, C. (2011)).

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  • 07
  • Jul

Common Speech Sound Errors. Should my child still be making them?

As children begin to speak, it is normal for them to say words differently sometimes. For example, your child may say “wain” instead of “rain” or “brela” for “umbrella”. This is okay when children are young, however can impact their ability to be understood as they grow older. Children should be able to be understood almost 100% of the time by 4 years of age Bowen, C. (2011)).


As a child’s vocabulary increases, they are often expected to speak more in different situations and with different people. An unfamiliar communication partner may have more difficulty understanding what a child is saying compared to a parent who is used to their child’s way of speaking. This is why it is important to see a Speech Pathologist when a child reaches the age that a speech error is no longer appropriate or beforehand if the child is becoming frustrated.


Here are some common speech sound errors that children make and the ages at which they are no longer considered appropriate:

Speech Sound Error Example Age should no longer be present

Word final devoicing:

When sounds are produced with the voice on or are produced with the voice turned off

web --> wep

bed -->bet

 3years

Final consonant deletion:

When the final consonant in a word is left off

pig --> pi

beep--> bee

 3years 3months

Fronting:

When sounds normally produced with the back/sides of the tongue are produced with the tip of the tongue

key --> tea

monkey --> montey

 3years 6months

Palatal fronting: 

This occurs when a ‘sh’ sound is produced further forward in the mouth as a ‘s’ sound

shell --> sell

brush --> brus

 3years 6months

Stopping:

When a long sound is replaced with a short bursting sound

fish --> pit

seven --> teben

shower --> tower

scissors --> tidet

 3years 6months

Weak syllable deletion:

When the unstressed syllable in a word is deleted

elephant --> efant

banana --> nana

 4years

Cluster reduction:

When two consonants are produced as one sound

plane --> pane

blue --> bue

star --> tar

nest --> net

 4years

Deaffrication

When ‘ch’ and ‘j’ sounds are produced as another sound

chair --> tare

Jug --> dug

 4years 6months

Interdental lisp

When ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds are produced with the tongue protruding between the teeth instead of behind the teeth

Sun --> thun

Pencil --> penthil

Mouse --> mouth

 4years 6months

Gliding

When ‘l’ and ‘r’ sounds are produced as ‘y’ or ‘w’


Lion --> yion 

Balloon --> bayoon 

Rain --> wain

Carrot --> cawet

‘l’ sound – 4years

‘r’ sound – 5years

Fricative Simplification:

When ‘th’ sounds are produced as ‘f’ or ‘v’

Thumb --> fum

Feather --> feva

 6years

Adapted from: Bowen, C. (2011) Elimination of Phonological Processes
 
References

Bowen, C. (2011). Table1: Intelligibility. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/

Bowen, C. (2011). Table 3: Elimination of Phonological Processes. Retrieved from http://www.speech-language-therapy.com/