Development of speech sounds Minimize

Age Sounds Used Sound Patterns
0-12 months
  • wide range of sounds
  • some non-English sounds
  • more English sounding after eight months
  • lip sounds may predominate: b, p, d, m
 Experimentation with sounds:
  • ‘raspberries’
  • shrieks
  • wide range of intonation patterns
  • animal noises
12-18 months Adding in: p, b, t, d, h, w
  • only a few sounds used
  • words are short
  • sounds often repeated:
  • ‘mama’ ‘dodo’ (dog) ‘bye bye’
 Ends of words may be missed (this should stop by 3 years):
  • do (dog)
  • ca (cat)
Syllables may be missed (this may continue until 4 years):
  • tato (potato)
Clusters of sounds are simplified (this may continue until 4 – 4½ years):
  • poon (spoon)
  • ting (string)
18-24 months Adding in: m, n, ng Sounds may affect each other (consonant harmony):
  • gog - (dog)
Sounds are changed to make them easier to say:
  • s, f, sh, ch > d, t, b:
    • tea < (sea)
    • bit < (fish)
    • turt < (church)
  • k, g > t, d
    • tat < (cat)
    • doe < (go)
24-36 months Adding in: k, g, f, s, h, w, y, l Several of these patterns may continue up to 36 months and operate at the same time, so whole groups of sounds are involved. Words may sound very different from the adult version, but the child’s sound patterns will be predictable.
3-5 years Adding in:
  • sn, sp, mp, nt   3½ yrs
  • ch, j, sh, z, v   4½ yrs
  • tr, cl, gr          5½ yrs
  • many of the simplified words start to mature
  • more difficult sounds are mastered
  • two sound combinations are used
5-7 years Adding in: th, r The last sounds to emerge. Most words are adult-sounding. Even long words can be pronounced.
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