Variable word initial and medial consonant relationships in children's speech sound articulation

The heterogeneous nature of consonants in the medial position of words may have prevented earlier studies from depicting a clear phonetic relationship between them and consonants in the initial and final positions. In this study, auditory perceptual judgments of children's consonant productions in the initial position of words were compared with those on medial consonants varying in number and order. Neither the perceived frequency of correct articulation nor the error pattern differentiated single consonants in the initial and medial positions of words at any age. Performance on consonant blends in the initial position of words differed from that on both types of medial sequences, but it was more similar to medial consonant sequences that corresponded with permissible word initial blends than to those that did not. It was concluded that initial and medial consonants may be regarded as performance equivalents only under certain conditions.