Phonological development

Phonological development is the process by which children acquire the sound categories, patterns, and rules of their language. It includes learning which sound differences distinguish words and how sounds combine.

Phonemic perception: The ability to perceive speech sounds as categories that distinguish words in a language. Infants become increasingly attuned to the sound contrasts that their language uses.
Phonology: The system of sound categories and patterns that organizes the sounds of a language. Phonological development is the acquisition of this language-specific system.
Phonological disorder: A speech sound disorder involving persistent difficulty learning or using a language's sound patterns. It differs from typical development in the persistence or nature of sound-pattern errors.
Perceptual narrowing: The developmental tuning of perception toward distinctions that are common or meaningful in one's environment. Infants become less sensitive to some non-native speech contrasts during the first year.
Cross-linguistic influence: The effect of one language on the acquisition or use of another language. Children learning more than one language draw on sound systems that may differ in their contrasts and rules.
Babbling: An early stage of vocal development in which infants produce repeated or varied speech-like syllables. Babbling gives infants practice with speech sounds before stable words emerge.
Phoneme: A contrastive sound category that can distinguish words in a language. Learning phonemes lets children distinguish words that differ by a single sound.
Speech-language pathology: The clinical field concerned with assessing and treating communication and swallowing disorders. Clinicians assess children’s sound systems and plan support for speech difficulties.
Word-final consonant deletion: A speech pattern in which a consonant at the end of a word is omitted. Its age and frequency illustrate how developmental patterns can simplify adult word forms.
Bilingual language acquisition: The development of two or more languages by an individual during childhood. Its sound development challenges accounts based on monolingual experience alone.

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