Presentation - ECV2024-550

Children’s speech development: Polish

Paulina ZYDOROWICZ, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland (zpaula@amu.edu.pl)
Ewa CZAPLEWSKA, University of Gdańsk, Poland (ewa.czaplewska@ug.edu.pl)

Polish is characterized by 33 consonants, 6 vowels, and an abundance of consonant clusters in all word positions. Tones are not used to differentiate word meanings. The writing system is largely phonemic – Polish uses the Latin alphabet with a set of diacritics and diagraphs. There are several studies of children’s acquisition of Polish that generally reflect cross-linguistic trends in the acquisition of phonology. Early-developing sounds include plosives /p, b, t, d, k, ɡ/, fricatives /f, v, ɕ, ʑ, x/, affricates /ʨ, ʥ/, nasals /m, n, ɲ/, lateral /l/ and semi-vowels /w, j/. Next, the dentalized sibilants /s, z, ʦ, ʣ/ are acquired; then /ʂ, ʐ, t͡ʂ, d͡ʐ/ and the rhotic /r/ take the longest to be mastered. Researchers have focused on children with typical development as well as children with ankyloglossia (tongue tie), cleft palate, hearing disorders, and occlusion deficits. Common speech assessments include Test Powtarzania Pseudosłów (TPP) and interventions include Strategiczna metoda usprawniania realizacji fonemów (SMURF).

Key words:
Polish, multilingual, communication, speech, language, children’s development, interdisciplinary, international communities, assessment, intervention

Book chapter:
Zydorowicz, P., & Czaplewska, E. (2025). Polish speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press.

Language overview presentation:

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

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