Normal acquisition of consonant clusters

Children's acquisition of adult-like speech production has fascinated speec h-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 dur ing this time, even though the consonant cluster is a common feature of spe ech, its acquisition is one of the most protracted of all aspects of childr en's speech development, and the production of consonant clusters is one of the most common difficulties for children with speech impairment. This pap er reviews the literature from the past 70 years to describe children's nor mal acquisition of consonant clusters. Articulatory, phonological, linguist ic, and acoustic approaches to the development of consonant clusters are re viewed. Data from English are supplemented with examples from other languag es. Consideration of the information on consonant cluster development revea led 10 aspects of normal development that can be used in speech-language pa thologists' assessment and analysis of children's speech.