Common consonant substitutions to practice
Common consonant substitutions to practice typically include patterns where one type of consonant sound is replaced by another, often simpler or easier to produce. Some well-known common consonant substitutions are:
- Stopping: replacing a fricative or affricate (e.g., /f/, /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/) with a stop consonant (e.g., /p/, /t/, /k/). For example, saying “toap” instead of “soap” or “tɔp” for “shop”. 1, 2
- Fronting: replacing a back sound (velar like /k/, /g/) with a front sound (alveolar like /t/, /d/). For example, “tat” for “cat” or “deɪt” for “gate”. 1
- Gliding: replacing liquids /ɹ/ or /l/ with glides /w/ or /j/, such as “wabbit” for “rabbit” or “yeyo” for “yellow”. 1
- Deaffrication: replacing an affricate sound with a fricative, such as “ship” for “chip”. 1
- Cluster reduction: simplifying consonant clusters to a single consonant, for example “top” for “stop” or “kin” for “skin”. 1
- Final consonant deletion: omitting the last consonant in a word, such as “bʌ” for “bus”. 1
To practice consonant substitutions, many use minimal pairs—pairs of words that differ by one consonant sound, helping learners distinguish and correctly produce the substituted sounds. Some examples of minimal pairs for consonant substitutions are:
| Substitution | Minimal Pairs Examples |
|---|---|
| T and K | top/cop, tight/kite |
| D and G | date/gate, bid/big |
| S and TH | sick/thick, sing/thing |
| R and W | red/wed, ring/wing |
| L and W | lay/way, lip/whip |
| F and V | fan/van, face/vase |
These pairs enable practicing consonant substitutions for sounds commonly involved in speech therapy. 4
Overall, consonant substitutions frequently practiced include stopping, fronting, gliding, deaffrication, cluster reduction, and final consonant deletion, often using minimal pairs to target specific sounds for correction and improved articulation. 4, 1