Weak Syllable Deletion:
How to Treat Syllable Reduction in Children

Unstressed syllable deletion, also known as weak syllable deletion or syllable reduction, is the phonological process that occurs when a child deletes one or more syllables from a multisyllabic word.  For example, “umbrella” might become “brella”.  This is common up through the age of 4 years.  Then we expect it to disappear.  If the child is still using that process after that, we can use these strategies:

Sample Goal for Weak Syllable Deletion:

Student will eliminate the process of unstressed syllable deletion by spontaneously producing all syllables in multi-syllabic words in sentences with at least 80% accuracy.

Weak Syllable Deletion Kit

Weak Syllable Deletion Kit

No-Prep Worksheets for Treating Syllable Reduction in Kids

Therapy Phases for Weak Syllable Deletion:

  1. Auditory Discrimination: Student will receptively identify the difference between two minimal pair words where the words sound the same except that one word is missing a syllable (example: butter and buttercup) with at least 80% accuracy.
  2.  Production in Single Words: Student will produce all syllables in multisyllabic words with at least 80% accuracy.
  3. Production in Phrases: Student will produce all syllables in multi-syllabic words in 2-3 word phrases with at least 80% accuracy.
  4. Production in Sentences: Student will produce all syllables in multi-syllabic words in sentences with at least 80% accuracy.

What’s Next?

  • At this point, you can either move on to another phonological process and see if this process generalizes on its own.  Or, you can move on to our “carry-over and generalization” kit with this phonological process.
Weak Syllable Deletion Kit

Weak Syllable Deletion Kit

No-Prep Worksheets for Treating Syllable Reduction in Kids

Carrie Clark, Speech-Language Pathologist

About the Author: Carrie Clark, MA CCC-SLP

Hi, I’m Carrie! I’m a speech-language pathologist from Columbia, Missouri, USA. I’ve worked with children and teenagers of all ages in schools, preschools, and even my own private practice. I love digging through the research on speech and language topics and breaking it down into step-by-step plans for my followers.

Fun Fact: When my son was three, he once got mad at me and told me he was going to send me to Antarctica in nothing but a t-shirt.  He had an overly large vocabulary for a 3-year-old….along with an overly large amount of sass.  He still has both to this day.

Connect with Me: