Speech Development

Articulation

How we make speech sounds using the mouth, lips, and tongue. For example, we need to be able to say the “r” sound to say “rabbit” instead of “wabbit.”

Voice

How we use our vocal folds and breath to make sounds. Our voice can be loud or soft or high- or low-pitched. We can hurt our voice by talking too much, yelling, or coughing a lot.

Fluency 

This is the rhythm of our speech. We sometimes repeat sounds or pause while talking. People who do this a lot may stutter.

Speech Progression with Age

Age at which 90% of Children Produce Sounds

24-36 Months
P, B, D, G, M, N, W, H

37-48 Months
T, K, F, Y, NG

49- 60 Months
S, Z, SH, CH, J, L, V, Y, 

61-72 Months
R, TH, Zh

Crowe, K., &McLeod, S. (2020). Children’s English consonant acquisition in the United States: Areview. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 29(4), 2155-2169.