Phonological Analysis: A Multifaceted Approach

Summary A common technique in analyzing phonology of children with articulation problems is the matching of the error phoneme to target phoneme and, if there is a mismatch, classifying it as a substitution, omission or distortion. This traditional analysis has a number of deficiencies. For example, it can fail to detect the specific allophones involved in distortion errors, or it may lead to describing misarticulations as inconsistent, when, indeed they are not. This paper argues for a multifaceted approach to phonological analysis in order to find patterns to account for the “inconsistencies”. The approach advocated is a discovery procedure where clinicians look for regularities in the articulation of particular children. Three types of analyses are suggested. The first is an adaptation of traditional analysis. It utilizes multiple samples of narrowly transcribed sound productions and classifies errors by feature substitution or feature‐plus‐position regularities. The second is context sensitive analysis which recognizes that sounds and syllables when produced in connected sequences can affect one another. Phenomena such as reduplication, assimilation, weak syllable deletion, and coalescence are revealed through this analysis. The third is idiosyncratic structure analysis which reveals phonological structures which are peculiar to a particular child. Examples of nasal structures, two‐syllable structure and consonant vowel structure are given.