Speech Sound Development Chart for Letter Sounds by Age

Speech Sound Development Chart is a great resource to check the speech development timeline. It shows the average age limit during which a child starts speaking a particular sound. 

A child goes through different stages of development. With time, the child learns to express simple to complex sounds. This chart shows this progress for a given age limit. 

Furthermore, this article has four different charts. So, you can learn the heck out of it. 

First of all, let's see what is speech. Here is a simple definition. 

Speech is our vocal expression through sounds or words. Human Beings use speech to express thoughts by using language. 

I am going to break this article into two sections.

1. Vowel Sounds By Age 
2. Consonant Sounds By Age

Read More: Development Milestones For Language, From Birth to 6 Years

Before moving on, I want you to note down two important things.

• Before the acquisition of consonants or vowels, babies express in different ways. 
• These ways include crying, cooing, vocalization, and laughter. 
• These sounds are like prerequisites for speech and language development. So, never underestimate their importance.

Experts conduct many studies in the past to determine the speech milestones. These studies include a large number of kids. And the experts tested them at different age levels. 

It is very important to understand one thing here. These studies gave us criterion levels for the determination of articulation norms.

In simple words, it shows the norms for Customary production of sounds. A child doesn't need to master a particular sound at a given age.

Without taking more time, here is the first speech sound development chart which Speech Pathologists use in practice. 

Speech Sound Development Chart For Vowels

Studies show that children pronounce the majority of (American) vowels by the age of 3.

Let's read the vowel norms by age. I will write different symbols of sounds for SLP trainees. They know what I mean. Every age category shows the addition of a new vowel(s).

Parents can also understand them by reading given examples. Let's go towards letter sounds by age. 

You can get this data in tabular form by downloading the image below. 

Up to 15 Months

• ɑ = Grandpa, Spa, Arm 
• ɪ = Sit, Which, If, Hit 
• ʊ = Good, Book, Put, Could 
• ʌ = Cup, Other, Love, Cut, Luck

18 Months 

• i = Heat, Diva, These, See, These 
• u = School, Food, Rude, Ooze, Blue
• ɔ = Want, Saw, All, Call 
• æ = Back, Cat, Black

21 Months 

• ɛ = Head, Said, Bet, Any 
• o = Hope, Okay, Go, Boat, November 

2 Years 

• e = Made, Bait, Fade, Taste 

3 Years 

• ɝ = Learn, First, Early, Bird, Sir 

4 Years 

• ɚ = Never, Actor, Butter, Percent

Let's analyze this data from a different yet informative perspective. 

1. The first year has four vowels and the second one adds 7. This is very interesting. 
2. The first category has three Lax Vowels /ʌ/, /ʊ/ and /ɪ/. 
3. The next has three Tense Vowels /i/, /u/ and /ɔ/.
4. Children can speak 8 Cardinal Vowels by the age of two years /ɑ/, /i/, /ɛ/, /e/,    /æ/, /v/, /o/ and /ɔ/.
5. Rhotic Vowels /ɝ/ and /ɚ/ are the most difficult sounds in terms of articulation. 

Usually, children can speak individual vowels clearly by the age of 3.

The chart shows the average age at which 75% of children produce these sounds. I will make the font bold for the specific letter sounds in examples.

Speech Articulation Chart by age

Now, we are going to touch another aspect. It's time to see their development according to Tongue Advancement and Elevation Features. 

Read More: What is Speech Therapy and How does it work?

Only SLPs can understand this section.  

The following data is according to Tongue Advancement Features. 

Up to 15 months 

• Front: /ɪ/
• Central: /ʌ/
• Back: /ɑ/ and /ʊ/

15 months to 2 years 

• Front: /ɪ/, /i/, /æ/, /ɛ/ and /e/
• Central: /ʌ/
• Back: /ɑ/, /ʊ/, /u/, /ɔ/ and /o/

2 to 3 years

• Front: /ɪ/, /i/, /æ/, /ɛ/ and /e/
• Central: /ʌ/ and /ɝ/ 
• Back: /ɑ/, /ʊ/, /u/, /ɔ/ and /o/

The following data is according to Tongue Elevation Features. 

Up to 15 months 

• High: /ɪ/ and /ʊ/
• Middle: /ʌ/
• Low: /ɑ/

15 months to 2 years

• High: /ɪ/, /u/, /ʊ/, /i/
• Middle: /ʌ/, /ɔ/, /ɛ/, /o/ and /e/
• Low: /ɑ/ and /æ/

2 to 3 years

• High: /i/, /ɪ/, /u/ and /ʊ/, 
• Middle: /ɛ/, /e/, /o/, /ʌ/, /ɔ/ and /ɝ/
• Low: /ɑ/ and /æ/

Important Articulation Norms for Vowels

• Children acquire these sounds earlier than consonants. 
• This is also true for the perception of these sounds. 
• Child articulate non-rounded and low vowels earlier. 
• Most of the studies show that vowel production becomes precise at the age of 3. 
• It can take up to 6 years for a child to speak vowels in multi-syllabic words. 

Babies from different language environments show variations in vowel quality. This variation occurs before the age of 12 months.  

During an early age, a child's vocal tract is under the process of becoming mature. It is important to acknowledge this fact while evaluating the acquisition of vowels. We should emphasize on phonetic competency instead of phonological ability.

I have something for you if you want to read more about vowel development. You can read extensive and interesting material about articulation milestones. 

From here, we will move towards our next important part. Sit Tight. 

Speech Sound Development Chart For Consonants

This data is common in use for the average age of consonant production. You can also download this data in tabular form by download the image below. This chart has great importance if we talk about speech development milestones. 

The image of the chart is available below for downloading. 

Up to 3 Years

• /p, m h, n, w, b/

2 to 3 Years

• /k, g, d/

2 to 6 Years

• /t, ŋ/

2.5 to 4 Years

• /f, j/

3 to 6 Years

• /r, l/

3 to 8 Years

• /s/

3.5 to 7 Years

• /tʃ, ʃ/

3.5 to 8 Years

• /z/

4 to 7 Years

• /dʒ/

4 to 8 Years

• /v/

4.5 to 7 Years

• /θ/

5 to 8 Years

• /ð/

6 to 8 Years

• /ʒ/

Consonants are awesome, aren't they? Without them, the world would have been a different place. 

Read More: Childhood Apraxia of Speech

Before the analysis of this speech sound development chart, I have one thing to do. I am going to write some examples so that everyone can understand the symbols. 

p: Pack, Park, Rope	j: Yummy, Yell, Yacht
m: Milk. Motor, Same	r: Rock. Road, Roar
h: Hall, Hack, Happy	l: Luck, Real, Elastic
n: Nut, Nile, Moon	s: Socks, Sip, Roster
w: Wood, Wait, Walk	tʃ: Chip, China, Rich
b: Book. Bucket, Ribbon	ʃ: Shun, Fish, Rash
k: Kite, Cat, Rack	z: Zinc, Zip, Music
g: Goat, Gold, Big	dʒ: Jet, Jeep, Roger
d: Duck, Red, Words	v: Viper, Vibrate, Rival
t: Tea. Tom, Stop	θ: Thanks, Ruthless, Three
ŋ: Thing, Sing, Ring	ð: The. Weather, Father
f: Folk, Finger, Wife	ʒ: Vision. Genre, Decision

Let's have a look at the data in the form of a chart.

You can see bars for every sound. The starting and ending point of the bar shows the age during which children start speaking a sound.

It shows the average age at which 90% of children produce these sounds. 

Speech Sound Development Chart by age

Let's break down the above chart for an interesting analysis. 

1. The first group has all four bilabials i.e., /p/, /m/, /b/ and /w/. It shows that sounds in which we join both lips are easier to speak. 
2. If you see the next two groups, you will see all three velar sounds i.e., /k/, /g/ and /ŋ/. The first group has a glottal sound /h/. Most noteworthy, children speak the sounds early which are from the back of the mouth.
3. Let's put some light on labio-dental sounds. The child can produce /f/ early while /v/ can take up to eight years. Here is a catch for you. The former one is voiceless while the later one is not. 
4. Take the example of /n/ and /z/. Both belong to the same group i.e., alveolar. One is among the group of early sounds while the other can take eight years.
5. The last nine sounds in the chart have seven fricatives and two affricates i.e., /tʃ/ and /dʒ/.
6. Acquisition of /l/ and /r/ has the same average age. Both are liquids. 

/s/ makes the longest bar in the chart. It is a voiceless alveolar. 

Speech Sound Development Chart Goldman Fristoe

It's time to see the speech norms at various positions in syllable or word. Many people are searching for this, so I decide to include this. 

The following data shows the age norms at which 85% of subjects produce given sounds. The image of the chart is present below. 

New sounds add up in inventory with every passing year. It also has consonant clusters. 

24 Months

By the age of 2 years, children can produce the following consonants in various positions.

• Initial: /b/,/d/, /h/, /m/, /n/, /p/
• Medial: /b/, /m/, /n/
• Final: /m/, /p/

36 Months

• Initial: /f/,/g/, /k/, /t/, /w/ 
• Medial: /f/, /g/, /k/, /ŋ/, /p/, /t/
• Final: /b/, /d/, /g/, /k/, /n/, /t/

As compare to consonants, vowels are greater in duration and higher in amplitude.  

48 Months

• Initial: /kw/
• Medial: /d/
• Final: /f/

60 Months

• Initial: /tʃ/,/dʒ/, /l/, /s/, /ʃ/, /j/, /bl/
• Medial: /tʃ/,/dʒ/, /l/, /s/, /ʃ/, /z/
• Final: /l/, /ŋ/, /tʃ/,/dʒ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /r/, /v/, /z/

72 Months

• Initial: /t/, /v/, /br/, /dr/, /fl/, /fr/, /gl/, /gr/, /kl/ /kr/, /pl/, /st/, /tr/
• Medial: /r/, /v/

84 months  

• Initial: /z/,/sl/, /sp/, /sw/, /θ/
• Medial: /θ/
• Final: /θ/

The following image has the same data in tabular form. So that you can download it.

Speech sound development chart Goldman Fristoe

Sound Development By Shriberg

Finally, there is another model for the development of speech sounds by age. Shriberg proposed this model after a study. Let's see when a child articulates a particular sound, according to him.

Early Eight	Middle Eight	Late Eight
m	t	ʃ
b	ŋ	θ
j	k	s
n	g	z
w	f	ð
d	v	l
p	tʃ	r
h	dʒ	ʒ

It's time to compare this data with the chart above. You can see early acquired sounds like /m/ and /b/ present in its early eight. While sounds taking more time are in the late eight. 

The can see the presence of the average age range in former charts. While Sheinberg proposed different stages of phoneme development. 

One of the research shows that children across the world acquire most of the consonants by the age of five years.

Do not miss these important points.

• Children can speak consonant clusters at the age of two years. 
• One study shows that females acquire consonants earlier than males. Winner. 
• The same is true in case of consonant clusters. 
• What if one of the family members of the child has an articulation error? The child may develop that error with time. I use the word "may".

Well, this data came to us after various studies and great efforts. Thanks to our super seniors from different parts of the world. Everyone will remember their contribution in this field. 

Tips for Parents 

I have a few tips for families about expert advice. You should consult a therapist if you find the following situations. 

• Your child is far behind his age group in terms of verbal or written expression. 
• The child is not speaking as clearly as other children of the same age. 
• A kid is facing learning problems.
• If you notice that the kid is not understanding others well.
• The child has trouble maintaining attention. 
• If the baby is extremely hyperactive or has repetitive hand movements. 
• The child's speech is not fluent. 
• He or she does not take an interest in playing with other kids. 

Parents should not wait to go for their child's assessment even when he or she is too young.

Conclusion

No doubt, the "Speech Sound Development Chart'' is a helpful material. But remember, parents should not use it for assessing their children. They can use it as a guide for letter sounds by age. It can help us to predict the social interaction of a child in the future. Consult certified Speech-Language Pathologists for any concern. 

I hope you will like this article. Do not forget to share this with friends and give your views in comments.