Misarticulation

Articulation is the process by which sounds are formed when your tongue, jaw, teeth, lips, and palate alter the air stream coming from the vocal folds.

Sounds are learned in an orderly sequence. Some sounds, such as “p,” “m,” and “b,” are learned as early as 1 year of age. Other sounds, like “s,” “r,’ and “l,” often are not completely mastered until the early school years. Children should make all the sounds of English by 8 years of age but many children learn these sounds much earlier.

Someone has an articulation problem when he or she produces sounds, syllables, or words incorrectly so that listeners do not understand what is being said. An articulation problem sometimes sounds like baby talk because many very young children do mispronounce sounds, syllables, and words. But words that sound cute when mispronounced by young children interfere with the communication of older children or adults.