Speech Sound Disorders

verb a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, such as 'pronounce' in this case

• The guest speaker mispronounced several words during the presentation.
• I always mispronounce that actor's name, it's so hard to say.
• She totally butchered that word, mispronounced it completely.
• His attempt at speaking French was a disaster, every word was mispronounced.

noun a unit of sound in a language that distinguishes one word from another, such as /p/ in 'pat' and /b/ in 'bat'

• In linguistics, a phoneme is a distinct unit of sound in a specific language.
• Teachers often use phonemes to help students improve their pronunciation.
• Some people struggle with differentiating between phonemes when learning a new language.
• The phoneme of laughter is universal across all cultures.

noun a regional accent is a way of speaking a language that is characteristic of a particular region or group of people

• The linguist studied the variations in pronunciation caused by regional accents.
• I can tell where someone is from based on their regional accent.
• Her regional accent is so thick, it's hard to understand her sometimes.
• His regional accent was like a melody that reminded me of home.

adjective Retroflex is an adjective that describes a consonant sound produced with the tongue curled back towards the hard palate.

• The retroflex consonants are produced by curling the tip of the tongue backwards towards the roof of the mouth.
• Some people find it difficult to pronounce retroflex sounds correctly.
• I can't get the hang of those retroflex letters in the new language I'm learning.
• Her retroflex attitude towards change made it hard for her to adapt to new situations.

noun A person who studies the physical and acoustic characteristics of speech sounds

• The phonologist conducted research on the phonetic features of various languages.
• My friend is studying to become a phonologist and loves analyzing speech sounds.
• I heard that phonologists are like language detectives, always deciphering the sounds people make.
• The phonologist's ears were finely tuned to pick up even the subtlest nuances in pronunciation.

noun a person or thing that stops or halts

verb the action of bringing something to a halt or cessation

• The train will be making its th stopping at the next station.
• We're almost at our th stopping, so get ready to hop off.
• I always miss my th stopping because I never pay attention.
• Life is like a train with many stops, make sure to cherish each th stopping along the way.

noun a phonological process in some dialects of English where the sound /θ/ is replaced by /f/ or /t/ in words like 'think' and 'this'

verb None

adjective None

adverb None

pronoun None

preposition None

conjunction None

interjection None

article None

• The phonological process of th fronting involves the pronunciation of the sound /θ/ as /f/ or /ð/ as /v/ in certain dialects.
• Some people find th fronting hard to understand, but it's just a different way of speaking.
• I love how some accents have th fronting - it sounds so cool!
• In a metaphorical sense, th fronting can represent the blending of different cultures and languages.

adjective relating to or characterized by affrication, a type of consonantal sound that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative

• The linguist explained that the sound 'ch' in the word 'church' is affricated.
• I always struggle with pronouncing words that have affricated sounds.
• I can't stand how some people over-affricate their words when they talk.
• Her affricated laughter filled the room with joy.

noun the result of affricating a sound

• Affrication is a phonological process where a stop consonant becomes an affricate.
• I learned about affrication in my linguistics class.
• Some people find affrication to be a bit tricky to understand.
• The affrication of his speech added a unique flair to his storytelling.