What are some articulation examples?

Articulation Errors Types

By Aamina (Speech Pathologist)

Speech sound production is a process of complexity which involves precise planning, movement and coordination of the lips, teeth, tongue, palate, cheeks, jaw and voice box – these are our articulators. Producing clear speech involves correct articulation, clear speech can also be referred to as intelligibility.

Errors in speech sound production are also known as articulation errors. Articulation errors are common in children when they are first learning to speak. An example of this is a toddler saying “wed” for “red”. Majority of children will eventually outgrow these speech errors, and this is a normal part of learning to produce new sounds.

If a child is demonstrating articulation errors that are not typically developing errors, then it is likely for them to need to see a Speech Pathologist. The Speech Pathologist is able to evaluate the error types the child is making and form an intervention or therapy plan. The Speech Pathologist will teach the child how to produce that sound correctly by:

• encouraging the child to move the articulators in the correct manner as well as
• explaining the type of sound (e.g., “whistly” sound, “long” sound or “short” sound)
• whether to turn their voice on or off.

A child can make the following articulation errors when producing speech sounds: Substitutions, Omissions, Distortions, and/or Additions. An easy way to remember these is to use the acronym SODA!

S – Substitutions
Definition: Replace one sound with another sound. Examples: “wed” for “red,” “thoap” for “soap,” “dut,” for “duck”

O – Omissions (also known as deletions) Definition: Omit a sound in a word.
Note: This error affects intelligibility the most, making speech more difficult for the listener(s) to understand.
Examples: “p ay the piano” for “play the piano”, “g een nake” for “green snake”

D – Distortions
Definition: Produce a sound in an unfamiliar manner.
Examples: “pencil” (nasalized—sounds more like an “m”) for “pencil,” “sun” (lisped—sounds “slushy”) for “sun”

A – Additions
Definition: Insert an extra sound within a word.
Examples: “buhlack horse” for “black horse,” “doguh,” for “dog”

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