The ‘Middle Eight’: Speech Sounds By Six

Knowing when and what speech sounds should be ‘expected’ by a certain age has long proved difficult for speech pathologists and concerned parents alike. Luckily there is a framework that divides all the sounds we learn as we grow into three distinct phases. Compiled by the famous Shriberg, he surveyed the research available and came up with the ‘middle eight’ speech sounds. By 72 months your child could have mastered the following:

• /t/ - as in "top"

• /ŋ/ - as in "sing"

• /k/ - as in "cat"

• /g/ - as in "go"

• /f/ - as in "fun"

• /v/ - as in "van"

• /tʃ/ - as in "chop"

• /dʒ/ - as in "jump"

These sounds are more complex than the ‘early eight’ and require greater motor control and precision with the lips, mouth and tongue to produce accurately (sounds like ‘ch’ and ‘j’ are particularly tricky here, as they are ‘made’ by combining two sounds e.g., ‘ch’ is made of ‘t’ and ‘sh’). Mastery of these sounds is crucial for clear and effective speech development.

Please note the above information is general in nature and is not intended as professional medical advice. Please seek an appointment with a registered speech-language pathologist if you are at all worried about your child's development.

References:

• Shriberg, L. D. (1993). Four new speech and prosody-voice measures for genetics research and other studies in developmental phonological disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 36(1), 105-140.

Suggested Resources

FREEBIE Stone Age Struggle: /b/ Sound

Practice your child’s /b/ sounds with dangerous dinos in a fun interactive game.

FREEBIE Shopping Trip: /b/ Sound

Practice your child’s /b/ sounds by competing to see who can fill their shopping basket first.

FREEBIE Monster Madness: /b/ Sound

Practice your child’s /b/ sounds with mad monsters in a fun interactive game.