Abstract
Vowel acquisition in children is a poorly researched area of speech development. Studies of phonological acquisition and theories of phonological development assumed that vowels develop early. Until recently, vowels were no more than the "poor relations of consonants" (Ball and Gibbon 2002:xi). Phonological assessments of children with typical and atypical speech development routinely ignored to mention the status of vowel production. However, recent investigations have revealed that the path from the emergence of quasi-vowels in babbling to more adult-like vowel production capabilities of older children requires an awareness of the underlying vowel system of the target language as well as articulatory learning. While the age at which vowels are fully acquired is unknown, data suggest that the major steps of vowel development occur during the first six years of life.
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