Consonants lost: a Swedish girl with protracted phonological development

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Child Phonology

Background:

• Children with speech sound disorders often exhibit phonological patterns.
• Understanding individual phonological profiles is crucial for effective intervention.
• This case study focuses on a specific child with extensive phonological difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the phonological system of a 3-year-old Swedish girl with complex speech sound errors.
• To identify specific phonological patterns and difficulties in syllable and word structure.
• To propose a non-linear analysis and intervention plan for her unique phonological challenges.

Main Methods:

• Case study of a 3-year-10-month-old Swedish-speaking girl.
• Phonological analysis focusing on features, stress, word length, syllable shapes, and segment deletion/substitution.
• Application of a non-linear phonological analysis framework.
• Development of a targeted intervention plan.

Main Results:

• The child demonstrated well-developed phonological features, stress, and word length but severe difficulties with syllable and word shapes.
• Frequent deletion of segments and syllables was observed.
• Specific patterns included dominance of non-continuants word-initially, voiceless obstruents word-medially, and [j] substitutions for voiced consonants.
• Consonant cluster production mirrored singleton patterns, involving substitutions or deletions.

Conclusions:

• The child presents with an unusual and extensive phonological pattern impacting syllable and word structure.
• A non-linear phonological analysis provides a framework for understanding these complex difficulties.
• The proposed intervention plan targets the identified areas of weakness for improved speech production.