The following chart shows the all the speech sounds in the English language, and the age at which 90% of girls and boys acquire that sound. This data is part of the criteria used to qualify for speech services.
| Sound | Age 90% of girls have the sound | Age 90% of boys have the sound |
| m | 3 years | 3 yrs. |
| h (initial) | 3 years | 3 yrs. |
| w (initial) | 3 years | 3 yrs. |
| p | 3 years | 3 yrs. |
| b | 3 years | 3 yrs. |
| d | 3 years | 3 yrs. 6 mos. |
| f | 3 yrs. 6 mos. | 3 yrs. 6 mos. |
| k | 3 yrs. 6 mos. | 3 yrs. 6 mos. |
| g | 3 yrs. 6 mos. | 4 yrs. |
| n | 3 yrs. 6 mos. | 3 yrs. |
| y (initial) | 4 years | 5 yrs. |
| t | 4 years | 3 yrs. 6 mos. |
| kw, tw | 4 years | 5 yrs. 6 mos. |
| th (as in the) |
4 yrs. 6 mos. | 7 years |
| l | 5 yrs. | 6 years |
| f (final) | 5 yrs. 6 mos. | 5 yrs. 6 mos. |
| v | 5 yrs. 6 mos. | 5 yrs. 6 mos. |
| pl, bl, kl, gl, fl | 5 yrs. 6 mos | 5 yrs. 6 mos. |
| sh | 6 years | 7 years |
| ch | 6 years | 7 years |
| l (final) | 6 years | 7 years |
| th (as in thumb) |
6 years | 8 years |
| j (as in jump) |
6 years | 7 years |
| s | 7 years | 7 years |
| z | 7 years | 7 years |
| sp, st, sk, sm, sn, sw, sl |
7 years | 7 years |
| -ing | 7 years | 7 years |
| r | 8 years | 8 years |
| r (final) | 8 years | 8 years |
| pr, bp, tr, dr, kr, gr, fr |
8 years | 8 years |
| spr, str, skr, thr, spl, skw |
9 years | 9 years |
Source: Smit et. al., "The Iowa Articulation Norms Project and its Nebraska Replication". Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders. Volume 55, 779-798, November, 1990.
At age 3 about 70% of what a child says should be understandable,
At age 4 about 90% of what a child says should be understandable,
At age 5, 100% of what a child says should be understandable.
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09/06/2007 mn