PRE-SPEECH IN CHILDREN WITH CLEFT-LIP AND PALATE OR CLEFT-PALATE ONLY- PHONETIC ANALYSIS RELATED TO MORPHOLOGIC AND FUNCTIONAL FACTORS

Pre-speech in 35 children with clefts of the lip and palate or palate only were analyzed for place and manner of articulation. Transcription s were made from tape recorded babbling sequences. Two children withou t clefts were used as reference. All of the children with clefts were treated according to a regimen of early surgical repair of the velum c left and delayed closure of the cleft in the hard palate. The frequenc y of selected phonetic features was calculated. Correlations between p honetic/perceptual and functional and morphological factors were teste d. Supraglottal articulation dominated among all the children indicati ng a sufficient velopharyngeal mechanism. The results also showed corr elations between cleft type and place of articulation. Anteriorly plac ed sounds (i.e., bilabial, dental, and alveolar sounds) occurred frequ ently among the children with cleft palate only and in the noncleft ch ildren. In children with cleft lip and palate, posteriorly placed arti culations predominated. It was postulated that early intervention may have a positive effect on articulatory development.