This paper investigates the articulatory development of [s] [z] [∫] [ts] [dz] sounds (here standard speech sounds) in young children. Exp.I deals with the production of speech sounds and Exp.II tries to clarify the recogintion of them.
Distinctive feature analysis in Exp.I demonstrated that the substitution errors were highly consistent and systematic, and each sound was interrelated closely. A follow up study indicated when a new feature was added, it was combined with others already present to form a new class, and a child's repertoire was extended by several sounds.
In Exp.II, the auditory discrimination between standard speech sound and his own substituted speech sound was tested for 25 misarticulating children in Exp.I Group mean score of incorrect discrimination responses was 30.32%. It is suggested that though children misarticulate [s] [z] [∫] [ts] [dz] sounds they have already been able to recognize them to a certain degree.