Consonant Deletion
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CONSONANT DELETION |
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Definition: |
Consonant deletion occurs whenever a consonant in syllable-initial or syllable-final position is omitted. |
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Comment: |
Consonants may simply be omitted from the beginning or ends of syllables. Whenever consonants in clusters are omitted this is not considered to be consonant deletion but the process of cluster reduction. |
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Examples: |
ball /bɔl/ → /ɔl/ (initial consonant deleted) cup /cʌp/ → /kʌ/ (final consonant deleted) |
Consonant deletion is a typical phonological process for children between the ages of 2;00-3;06 years. With this process, children may omit sounds at the beginning of words. This is referred to as initial consonant deletion, e.g.
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cat |
/kæt/ |
→ |
/æt/ |
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hit |
/hɪt/ |
→ |
/ɪt/ |
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boat |
/bəʊt/ |
→ |
/əʊt/ |
In addition, a child may leave off consonants that appear at the ends of words. This is known as final consonant deletion, e.g.
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top |
/tɒp/ |
→ |
/tɒ/ |
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bed |
/bɛd/ |
→ |
/bɛ/ |
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man |
/mæn/ |
→ |
/mæ/ |
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