Stampe first introduced concept of phonological processes which could explain how speech sound errors were a product of a failure to suppress natural tendencies of the perception and production systems and according to him learning of sound system requires suppression of a number of innate simplifying process and simultaneously increasing number of contrast sounds. During the developmental period, children’s production errors can be reliably classified according to various patterns of phonological processes. Ingram (1976) classified these simplifying processes into three main categories syllable structure processes, substitution processes and assimilatory processes.
Relationship between phonological process and language development:
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Bishop and Adams (1990) conducted a study on the relationship between specific language impairment, phonological disorders and reading retardation and analyzed the percentage of the correct consonants. They observed that children who produced less than 70% of consonants correctly had greater deficits with respect to the semantic and syntactic aspects.
Paul and Jennings (1992) studied the phonological behavior in toddlers between 18-34 months with slow expressive language development and noted that the percentage of correct consonants in children with delayed expressive language development was less compared to children with normal expressive language development.
Relationship between low birth weight and language development:
Yliherva, Olsen, Maki-Torkko, Koiranen and Jarvelin (2001) studied linguistic and motor abilities of low-birthweight (LBW) children at 8 years of their age and observed that children with low-birth weight had more difficulties compared to normal-birth weight children. The evaluation by parents showed that the children with LBW had poorest scores in linguistic and motor skills. The poor speech and language abilities in children at 8 years of age could be attributed to lower birth weight, preterm, small for the gestational age and socio demographic factors like the mothers age, sibling history, gender, hearing impairment.
Stolt, Haataja, Lapinleimu & Lehtonen (2009) studied lexical development and its predictive value to language skills on 32 very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) and 35 full term controls using The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory and Reynell Developmental Language Scales and reported that the growth of the receptive lexicon was slower, and the language skills poorer in VLBW children. Soraya, Mahmoodi-Bakhtiari, Badiee, Kazemi and Soleimani (2012) studied 42 premature children with low birth weight aged between 18 to 36 months old and 42 full-term peers using form II of Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) and reported that lower expressive lexicon size in low birth weight children. The size of the lexicon increased with increase age and then the overall expressive lexicon size was highly similar in the LBW and full term children.
Vohr, Coll & Oh (1988) studied the language skills of 50 low birth weight and 18 full-term normal infants at 8 months and 2 years of age and reported that the language was delayed in 28% of low birth weight children at two years. Menyuk, Liebergott, Schultz, Chesnick & Ferrier (1991) studied the development of vocabulary in 12 very low birth weight children and reported that they comprehend their first 10 words significantly later than full term children. Jansson-Verkasalo et al., (2004) studied the vocabulary size of 17 very low birth weight and 17 matched controls at 2 years using the MacArthur-Bates Communication Developmental Inventory and reported that the vocabulary size in very low birth weight children was smaller than that of full term children.
Relationship between age and Percentage of Correct Consonants:
Folha and Felicio (2009) analysed and compared the performance of children in three age groups, 67 children between 6:0 to8:0 years (Group I), 68 children between 8:1 to 10:0 years (Group II), and 65 children between 10:1 to 12:6 years (Group III). They determined the relationship between Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC) and speech rate. The results showed significant differences between the three age groups on the bases of speech performance measured by the PCC and speech rate was found to be increasing according to age. The increase of the PCC indexes and of speech rate was directly proportional.
PCC in disordered population:
Roberts, Rescorla, Giroux and Stevens (1998) examined the phonological skills of 29 subjects at 3 years of age with specific expressive language impairment (SLI-E) and observed that the percentage of correct consonants (PCC) were significantly lower when compared to 19 age matched children with normal speech and language development.
Phonological processes in other languages:
Haelsig and Madison (1986) studied 50 children in the age group of 3-5 years of Native American English and reported that gliding of liquids, cluster reduction and weak syllable reduction to be the most frequently occurring process in this age range. The percentage of occurrence of each of these processes declined with age. They also reported greatest reduction in the use of phonological processes occurred between 3 and 4 years of age.
Roberts, Burchinal and Footo (1990) studied 145 subjects between 2.6 years to 8 years and observed that final consonant deletion, cluster reduction, fronting, stopping, and liquid gliding persisted from 2.6 – 4 years and after 4 years cluster reduction and liquid gliding were used less frequently and fronting, stopping and final consonant deletion occurred rarely.
Stoel-Gammon and Dunn (1985) (as cited by Bharathy, 2001) compared error patterns from eight studies on phonological disordered individuals and identified final consonant deletion, cluster reduction, weak syllable deletion, stopping, velar and palatal fronting, gliding, vocalization, assimilation, prevocalic voicing and final consonant deletion to be present in common and reported that some natural processes disappear by the age of three years, while others persist beyond the age of three years. The processes that are expected to disappear by three years of age are unstressed syllable deletion, final consonant deletion, doubling, dimunitazation, velar fronting, consonant assimilation, reduplication and prevocalic voicing. The processes that persist beyond three years of age are cluster reduction, epenthesis, gliding, vocalization, stopping and depalatalization.
Robyn Merkell-Piccini (2001) proposed the processes that disappear by 3 years of age are unstressed syllable deletion, final consonant deletion, consonant assimilation, reduplication and velar fronting. Processes persisting beyond 3 years are cluster reduction, epenthesis, gliding, vocalization and stopping. By the first grade, or by age 7, these processes should be resolved. The most common processes that persist are stopping, gliding, and cluster reduction.
Phonological processes in Indian languages:
Bharathy (2001) summarized the phonological process in 3 to 4 year old Tamil speaking children and found that cluster reduction, epenthesis, stopping for liquids and fricatives, nasal assimilation, voicing assimilation, initial consonant deletion, unstressed syllable deletion affrication and deaffrication persisted. Nisthar (2005) studied the development of phonological process in 3 to 4 year old Tamil speaking children and observed the phonological processes such as epenthesis, deaffrication, stopping, initial consonant deletion, backing, affrication, lateralization, medial syllable deletion, gliding, intervocalic deletion, assimilation, fronting, cluster reduction and palatalization.
Santosh (2001) (as cited by Nisthar, 2005) analysed the phonological process in 3-4 year old native Hindi speaking children and found that denasalization, backing and cluster reduction were present. Ranjan (1999) (as cited by Nisthar, 2005) analysed the phonological process in 4-5 year old Hindi speaking children and found that cluster reduction, weak syllable deletion, partial reduplication, articulatory shift, aspiration and denasalization persisted.
Sameer (1998) (as cited by Nisthar, 2005) studied the phonological process in 3-4 years Malayalam speaking children and found cluster reduction, final consonant deletion, epenthesis and deaffrication to persist.
Sunil (1998) (as cited by Nisthar, 2005) summarized the phonological process in 3 to 4 year old Kannada speaking children and found that fronting and cluster reduction persisted and medial syllable deletion, final consonant deletion and affrication decreased during this period. Jayashree (1999) (as cited by Nisthar, 2005) studied 4-5 year old Kannada speaking children and identified fronting, cluster reduction and stopping to be present.
Ranjan (2009) investigated the phonological processes in 60 English speaking Indian children in the age range of 3-4 years and 4-5 years. The most commonly occurring phonological processes seen in the age group of 3-4 years of age were cluster reduction, final consonant deletion, strident deletion, assimilation. The least occurring processes were diphthong reduction, vocalization, deaffrication, initial consonant deletion, backing of vowel, and gliding. A total of 13 different phonological processes have been found to be occurring in the age group of 4 to 5 year old Indian children speaking English. The most commonly occurring phonological processes were cluster reduction, final consonant deletion, and strident deletion.
Phonology and low birth weight:
Spek, Franken, Wieringa, & Weisglas-Kuperus (2009) studied 20 very low birth weight children and 20 normally developing children. They reported that children born with very low birth weight are at risk for poor phonological development at 2 years of corrected age when compared with term matched children.
