Normal acquisition of consonant clusters

Children's acquisition of adult-like speech production has fascinated speech-language pathologists for over a century, and data gained from associated research have informed every aspect of speech-language pathology practice. The acquisition of the consonant cluster has received little attention during this time, even though the consonant cluster is a common feature of speech, its acquisition is one of the most protracted of all aspects of children's speech development, and the production of consonant clusters is one of the most common difficulties for children with speech impairment. This paper reviews the literature from the past 70 years to describe children's normal acquisition of consonant clusters. Articulatory, phonological, linguistic, and acoustic approaches to the development of consonant clusters are reviewed. Data from English are supplemented with examples from other languages. Consideration of the information on consonant cluster development revealed 10 aspects of normal development that can be used in speech-language pathologists' assessment and analysis of children's speech.