phonological process
Speech sound change
A phonological process is a systematic sound change that occurs in speech, often as children learn to talk or when sounds shift in casual pronunciation.
Children simplify difficult sounds—saying "wabbit" for rabbit or "nana" for banana—through predictable patterns that typically resolve with age.
Linguists also use the term for regular sound changes across languages and dialects.
- frontingBeing at the forefront
- lateralizationLocalization to one side
- glidingEngineless aerial movement
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
- stoppingCeasing to continue
backing · reduplication · deletion · nasalization · stress patterns · lisp · babbling · first words · baby talk · elision · stutter · toddler · tongue · mouth · substitution · syllable · speech therapy · metathesis