Phonetic Inventory and Syllable Structure Types Amongst Typically Developing Children and Late‐Talkers Speaking Tamil at 2 Years of Age: A Cross‐Sectional Study

What is already known on this subject Research from English and other Indo-European languages has revealed bidirectional relationships between phonological and lexical development, as evidenced by findings from typically developing (TD) children and children with language delays. Children identified as Late talkers (LTs) at 2 years of age demonstrate limited phonetic inventory and syllable shapes compared to TD children. What this paper adds to existing knowledge The current study is the first to report on the size and nature of the phonetic inventory, the proportion of consonants, vowels and syllable structure types amongst Tamil-speaking children born preterm who were TD and late-talking. There are considerable differences in TD children's and late talkers' early phonological abilities. The characteristics of Tamil influenced the phonological skills of both groups of children as the ambient language of exposure. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? The study contributes to the much-needed data corpus on early phonological skills, specifically the phonetic inventory and syllable structures from Tamil-speaking children. The data will aid in the identification of delays and atypical patterns in phonological development amongst children learning to speak Tamil. The information will guide intervention programs for children with early language delays. The findings strengthen existing cross-linguistic research on the relationship between early phonological skills and lexical development amongst children.