Phonological Development

Question 1

What is phonology?

Answer 1

The study of sounds and pronunciation

Question 2

How do children attempt to make words easier to say?

Answer 2

By simplification through deletion and substitution

Question 3

What are three examples of deletion?

Answer 3

1. Final consonants dropped
2. Unstressed syllables are deleted (banana becomes nana)
3. Consonant clusters reduced (sleep becomes seep, snake becomes nake)

Question 4

What is substitution?

Answer 4

Substituting easier sounds for harder ones- for example replacing r with w- stowy instead of story

Question 5

What did Berko and Brown discover about phonological development?

Answer 5

That children develop an understanding of words before they can fully form them. For example the child they studied understood the word fish, and could distinguish mistakes in adult pronunciation, but could not form the word fish.

Question 6

How does intonation relate to phonological development?

Answer 6

The intonation that children use for words can change their meanings without using better vocabulary. For example a straightforward ‘my car’ declaration can become ‘MY car’ when it is put under threat.

Question 7

What is reduplication?

Answer 7

When different sounds in words are repeated ( these sounds may be easier to pronounce) for example dog becomes gog