Classifying disordered speech
‘Stridency deletion’ and phonological processes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.33440Keywords:
disordered speech, phonological processes, fricatives, stridency deletion, strident, sibilant, phonetic descriptionAbstract
In this account we address phonological processes, and in particular, stridency deletion. We discuss the difference between stridency and sibilance, and then outline the variety of patterns that are claimed to make up the process. We look in turn at patterns of normal phonological development of fricatives in English, and typical patterns found in phonological disorders, and note that these do not provide evidence to support using the concept of stridency. Further, evidence is provided from the phonetic level in both normal acquisition and articulatory disorders that supports a sibilant versus non-sibilant analysis, and we consider why sibilant fricatives should provide especial challenges to speakers. We conclude by considering two problems. The first is a problem with imprecise phonetic description suggesting that a phonological substitution of target alveolar fricatives by dental ones occurs much more often that it really does. The second is the problem of ad hoc process invention by speech-language pathology researchers beyond the limits described in the original theory of natural phonology. We hope to have shown, therefore, that not only is stridency deletion not a process, but stridency is not a helpful concept in clinical phonology, and processes are currently used simply as convenient labels with little theoretical validity.
References
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Ball, M. J., Muller, N. and Granese, A. (2013). Towards an evidence-base for /r/ therapy in English. Journal of Clinical Speech and Language Studies 20: 1–23.
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Ball, M. J. and Rahilly, J. (2000). Phonetics, the Science of Speech. London: Edward Arnold.
Ball, M. J., Rutter, B. and Code, C. (2008). Phonological analyses of a case of progressive speech degeneration. Asia-Pacific Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing 11: 305–312. https://doi.org/10.1179/136132808805335590
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Bowen, C. (2009). Children’s Speech Sound Disorders. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Chomsky, N. and Halle, M. (1968). The Sound Pattern of English. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Code, C., Ball, M. J., and Tree, J. (2011). The influence of psycholinguistic variables on articulatory errors in naming in progressive motor speech degeneration. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 25: 1074–1080. https://doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2011.601390
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Fletcher, S. (1989). Palatometric specification of stop, affricate and sibilant sounds. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 32: 736–748. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3204.736
Gibbon, F. (1990). Lingual activity in two speech disordered children’s attempts to produce velar and alveolar stop consonants: Evidence from electropalatographic (EPG) data. British Journal of Disorders of Communication 25: 329–340. https://doi.org/10.3109/13682829009011981
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Kroll, T. and Muller, N. (2011). The impact of contextual, conversational, and affective factors on a child’s speech intelligibility. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders 2: 293-319. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v2i2.293
Local, J. and Kelly, J. (1986). Doing Phonology. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Miccio, A. and Scarpino, S. (2008). Phonological analysis, phonological processes. In M. J. Ball, M. Perkins, N. Muller, and S. J. Howard (Eds), The Handbook of Clinical Linguistics, 412–422. Oxford: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444301007.ch25
Muller, N., Ball, M. J., and Rutter, B. (2006). A profiling approach to intelligibility problems. Advances in Speech-Language Pathology 8: 176–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/14417040600738151
Muller, N., Ball, M. J., and Rutter, N. (2008). An idiosyncratic case of /r/ disorder: Application of principles from Systemic Phonology and Systemic Functional Linguistics. Asia-Pacific Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing 11: 269–281. https://doi.org/10.1179/136132808805335554 4
Nordgren, P. (2015). Phonological development in a child with autism spectrum condition: Case study of an intervention. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders 6: 25–51. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v6i1.25
Rutter, B. (2010). On the use of the term ‘repair’ and its application to disordered conversational speech. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders 1: 199–216.
Rvachew, S., Rafaat, S., and Martin M. (1999). Stimulability, speech perception skills, and the treatment of phonological disorders. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 8: 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1044/1058-0360.0801.33
Shriberg, L., Fourakis, M., Hall, S., Karlsson, H., Lohmeier, H., McSweeny, J., Potter, N., Scheer-Cohen, A., Strand, E., Tilkens, C., and Wilson, D. (2010). Extensisons to the Speech Disorders Classification System (SDCS). Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 24: 795–824. https://doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2010.503006
Smith, N. (1973). The Acquisition of Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stampe, D. (1969). The acquisition of phonetic representation. In Proceedings of the 5th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society, 443–454. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Stampe, D. (1979). A Dissertation on Natural Phonology. New York: Garland.
Ball, M. J., Code, C., Tree, J., Dawe, K., and Kay, J. (2004). Phonetic and phonological analysis of progressive speech degeneration: A case study. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 18: 447–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699200410001703646
Ball, M. J. and Damico, J. S. (2010). Toward an interactional clinical phonetics and phonology. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders 1: 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v1i1.31
Ball, M. J. and Muller, N. (2005). Phonetics for Communication Disorders. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Erlbaum.
Ball, M. J., Muller, N. and Granese, A. (2013). Towards an evidence-base for /r/ therapy in English. Journal of Clinical Speech and Language Studies 20: 1–23.
Ball, M. J., Muller, N. and Rutter, B. (2010). Phonology for Communication Disorders. New York: Psychology Press.
Ball, M. J. and Rahilly, J. (2000). Phonetics, the Science of Speech. London: Edward Arnold.
Ball, M. J., Rutter, B. and Code, C. (2008). Phonological analyses of a case of progressive speech degeneration. Asia-Pacific Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing 11: 305–312. https://doi.org/10.1179/136132808805335590
Bauman-Waengler, J. (2016). Articulation and Phonology in Speech Sound Disorders. A Clinical Focus (5th edition). New York: Pearson.
Bleile, K. (2013). The Late Eight (2nd edition). San Diego, CA: Plural.
Bowen, C. (2009). Children’s Speech Sound Disorders. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Chomsky, N. and Halle, M. (1968). The Sound Pattern of English. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Code, C., Ball, M. J., and Tree, J. (2011). The influence of psycholinguistic variables on articulatory errors in naming in progressive motor speech degeneration. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 25: 1074–1080. https://doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2011.601390
Creaghead, N., Newman, P., and Secord, W. (1989). Assessment and Remediation of Articulatory and Phonological Disorders (2nd edition). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Daniloff, R., Wilcox, K., and Stephens, M. I. (1980). An acoustic-articulatory description of children’s defective /s/ productions. Journal of Communication Disorders 13: 347–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9924(80)90004-0
Fletcher, S. (1989). Palatometric specification of stop, affricate and sibilant sounds. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 32: 736–748. https://doi.org/10.1044/jshr.3204.736
Gibbon, F. (1990). Lingual activity in two speech disordered children’s attempts to produce velar and alveolar stop consonants: Evidence from electropalatographic (EPG) data. British Journal of Disorders of Communication 25: 329–340. https://doi.org/10.3109/13682829009011981
Gibbon, F. (1999). Undifferentiated lingual gestures in children with articulation/ phonological disorders. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 42: 382–397. https://doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4202.382
Grunwell, P. (1987). Clinical Phonology (2nd edition). London: Croom Helm.
Grunwell, P. (1997). Natural phonology. In M. J. Ball and R. D. Kent (Eds), The New Phonologies, 35–75. San Diego, CA: Singular.
Hodson, B. and Paden, E. (1991). Targeting Intelligible Speech: A Phonological Approach to Remediation (2nd edition). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
Howard, S. J. (1995). Intransigent articulation disorder: Using electropalatography to assess and remediate misarticulated fricatives. In M. R. Perkins and S. J. Howard (Eds) Case Studies in Clinical Linguistics, 39–64. London: Whurr.
Howard, S. J. (1998). A perceptual and electropalatographic case study of Pierre Robin Sequence, In W. Ziegler and K. Deger (Eds), Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 157–164. London: Whurr.
Howard, S.J. (2001). Compensatory articulatory behaviours in cleft palate speech: Comparing the perceptual and instrumental evidence. Paper presented at The 9th International Congress in Cleft Palate and Related Craniofacial Anomalies, Gothenburg, Sweden, 25–29 June.
Howard, S. J. (2013). A phonetic investigation of single word versus connected speech production in children with persisting speech difficulties relating to cleft palate. Cleft Palate – Craniofacial Journal 50: 207–223. https://doi.org/10.1597/11-250
Howard, S. J. and Varley, R. (1995). Using electropalatography to treat severe acquired apraxia of speech. European Journal of Disorders of Communication 30: 246–255. https://doi.org/10.3109/13682829509082535
IPA (2005). The International Phonetic Alphabet (revised to 2005). London: IPA.
Kingston, J. and Beckman, M. (Eds) (1990). Papers in Laboratory Phonology I: Between the Grammar and the Physics of Speech. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511627736
Kroll, T. and Muller, N. (2011). The impact of contextual, conversational, and affective factors on a child’s speech intelligibility. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders 2: 293-319. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v2i2.293
Local, J. and Kelly, J. (1986). Doing Phonology. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Miccio, A. and Scarpino, S. (2008). Phonological analysis, phonological processes. In M. J. Ball, M. Perkins, N. Muller, and S. J. Howard (Eds), The Handbook of Clinical Linguistics, 412–422. Oxford: Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444301007.ch25
Muller, N., Ball, M. J., and Rutter, B. (2006). A profiling approach to intelligibility problems. Advances in Speech-Language Pathology 8: 176–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/14417040600738151
Muller, N., Ball, M. J., and Rutter, N. (2008). An idiosyncratic case of /r/ disorder: Application of principles from Systemic Phonology and Systemic Functional Linguistics. Asia-Pacific Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing 11: 269–281. https://doi.org/10.1179/136132808805335554 4
Nordgren, P. (2015). Phonological development in a child with autism spectrum condition: Case study of an intervention. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders 6: 25–51. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.v6i1.25
Rutter, B. (2010). On the use of the term ‘repair’ and its application to disordered conversational speech. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders 1: 199–216.
Rvachew, S., Rafaat, S., and Martin M. (1999). Stimulability, speech perception skills, and the treatment of phonological disorders. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 8: 33–43. https://doi.org/10.1044/1058-0360.0801.33
Shriberg, L., Fourakis, M., Hall, S., Karlsson, H., Lohmeier, H., McSweeny, J., Potter, N., Scheer-Cohen, A., Strand, E., Tilkens, C., and Wilson, D. (2010). Extensisons to the Speech Disorders Classification System (SDCS). Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics 24: 795–824. https://doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2010.503006
Smith, N. (1973). The Acquisition of Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stampe, D. (1969). The acquisition of phonetic representation. In Proceedings of the 5th Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society, 443–454. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Stampe, D. (1979). A Dissertation on Natural Phonology. New York: Garland.
Published
2018-02-21
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Ball, M., & Howard, S. (2018). Classifying disordered speech: ‘Stridency deletion’ and phonological processes. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders, 8(2), 147-161. https://doi.org/10.1558/jircd.33440
