Developmental Tendencies of Articulation of Slit and Compact-slot Sounds in CCV-, -VCC- and -VCC Groups in the Pronunciation of Three-, Four- and Five-year-old Children

The pronunciation of consonant groups in three-, four-, and five-year-old children is an exponent of the acquired phonological competences. A genuine study has to consider the pronunciation of consonants characteristic of specific early stages of speech development. The element of phonetic neighborhood is also an important aspect, being a decisive feature for the final implementation of a specific consonantal connection. In the speech of preschool children, the implementation of consonant groups (CCV-, -VCC- and -VCC), in addition to the pronunciation consistent with the standard one, includes substitutions, reductions, assimilation, and other phenomena, for instance, epentesis. Moreover, there is the coexistence of several types of pronunciation violations of consonant clusters.