Which set of shapes is used in analyzing a child's word structures?

Which set of shapes is used in analyzing a child's word structures?

• A. PCC
• B. Phonotactic probability
• C. CV, VC, CVC, VCV, CVCV, VCVC
• D. The frequency of words

Answer: (C)

Understanding how a child puts sounds together is about the order of consonants and vowels within syllables. The shapes CV, VC, CVC, VCV, CVCV, and VCVC give a concise way to describe what those patterns look like in a child’s speech—how many segments there are and whether they come as a consonant before a vowel, a vowel before a consonant, a longer consonant-vowel sequence, or two syllables strung together. This framework helps clinicians track development: from simple open syllables like CV to more complex ones like CVCV or VCVC, and it provides a clear target for practice and progression. The other options aren’t about describing these structural patterns of word shapes—percent consonants correct focuses on articulation accuracy, phonotactic probability deals with how likely sound sequences are to occur rather than their shape, and word frequency concerns how often words are used rather than how they are built syllabically.

Understanding how a child puts sounds together is about the order of consonants and vowels within syllables. The shapes CV, VC, CVC, VCV, CVCV, and VCVC give a concise way to describe what those patterns look like in a child’s speech—how many segments there are and whether they come as a consonant before a vowel, a vowel before a consonant, a longer consonant-vowel sequence, or two syllables strung together. This framework helps clinicians track development: from simple open syllables like CV to more complex ones like CVCV or VCVC, and it provides a clear target for practice and progression. The other options aren’t about describing these structural patterns of word shapes—percent consonants correct focuses on articulation accuracy, phonotactic probability deals with how likely sound sequences are to occur rather than their shape, and word frequency concerns how often words are used rather than how they are built syllabically.