ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Neurosci.
Sec. Speech and Language
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1635096
The Articulatory Basis of Phonological Error Patterns in Childhood Speech Sound Disorders
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
- 2Mayo Clinic Minnesota, Rochester, United States
- 3Brave Wings Therapy, Fairfield, United States
- 4Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
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Speech acquisition involves complex coordination of articulatory structures, primarily the jaw, lips, and tongue. Typically developing children acquire speech sounds in a hierarchical sequence governed by progressive neuromotor maturation. However, disruptions in speech motor control can lead to systematic phonological error patterns, commonly attributed to cognitive-linguistic deficits. This study explores the articulatory foundations of phonological error patterns in preschool-aged children diagnosed with moderate-to-severe speech sound disorders. Using data from 48 children who participated in a randomized controlled trial, we employed Mutual Information Analysis and Random Forest Models to quantify associations between specific speech motor limitations and phonological error patterns identified via the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology assessment. Results showed moderate associations between phonological error patterns in particular cluster reduction, final consonant deletion, stopping, gliding, and atypical errors and limitations in jaw, labial-facial, and lingual control. Gliding, unexpectedly, demonstrated a negative relationship with speech motor errors, being more prevalent among older and milder cases, suggesting it may reflect a compensatory developmental stage rather than purely phonological simplification. These findings highlight the significance of speech motor constraints in phonological error patterns, challenging traditional cognitive-linguistic explanations. The results support theoretical frameworks such as Articulatory Phonology, emphasizing that phonological error patterns are influenced substantially by articulatory and neuromotor development. This study underscores the need for integrating motor considerations into clinical assessments and interventions for speech sound disorders in children, fostering a comprehensive approach bridging cognitive-linguistic and motor speech perspectives.
Keywords: Speech Motor Control, Phonological error patterns, Speech Sound Disorders, speech development, Speech Motor Delay, Articulatory Phonology, Mutual information analysis, SHAP analysis
Received: 26 May 2025; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Namasivayam, Li-Han, Moore, Wong and van Lieshout. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Aravind Kumar Namasivayam, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
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