Natural phonology: Speech development is governed by natural phonetic constraints, or processes that simplify articulation.

• A. Phonetics
• B. Natural Phonology
• C. Articulation
• D. Phonology

Answer: (B)

The main idea is that children's speech develops through universal, natural simplification patterns in articulation. Natural phonology posits that certain sounds and sound sequences are harder to produce, so children substitute or omit them using processes that are common across languages. These processes, like final consonant deletion, cluster reduction, or substituting a difficult sound with an easier one (for example, a child saying “wabbit” for rabbit or “ti” for tree), reflect innate articulatory constraints. As a child’s motor control and auditory discrimination improve, these simplification processes fade away and the adult pronunciation emerges. This theory sits within phonology, focusing on why patterns of sound changes occur in development, rather than the physical production details of speech (phonetics) or the concrete motor actions of articulation.