Speech Pathology Glossary
100 terms total — 24 showing — Last updated 15 Sep 2026
prosody
The rhythm, stress, and intonation patterns of speech that convey meaning and emotional content beyond individual word pronunciation.
minimal pairs
Word pairs that differ by only one sound, used in therapy to highlight phonemic contrasts.
MLU
Mean Length of Utterance, a measure of grammatical development calculated by dividing total morphemes by number of utter...
Modified Barium Swallow Study
Dynamic radiographic examination assessing all phases of swallowing function using barium-coated materials of varying co...
morpheme
The smallest meaningful unit in language, including root words, prefixes, suffixes, and grammatical markers.
nasometry
An instrumental assessment technique that measures the acoustic correlates of nasal resonance during speech production.
oral motor examination
Clinical assessment of the structure and function of oral and facial muscles used for speech and swallowing.
oral-peripheral examination
A systematic assessment of the oral and facial structures and their function for speech and swallowing.
otitis media
Middle ear inflammation that can affect hearing and subsequently impact speech and language development in children.
penetration-aspiration scale
Eight-point ordinal scale rating the depth and patient response to airway invasion during swallowing assessment.
perseveration
The involuntary repetition or continuation of a response beyond its appropriate context, often seen in neurological cond...
phonatory threshold pressure
Minimum subglottal pressure required to initiate vocal fold oscillation and voice production.
phoneme
The smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish meaning between words.
phonemic awareness
The ability to recognize and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.
phonological awareness
The ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in spoken language, including skills like rhyming, sound blending, and so...
phonological disorder
A speech sound disorder characterized by predictable, rule-based errors affecting sound patterns rather than motor produ...
phonological patterns
Systematic sound substitutions or omissions that typically occur in children's speech development.
phonological process
Systematic sound changes that children use to simplify adult speech patterns during normal development.
phonological processes
Systematic sound pattern changes that children use to simplify adult speech productions during language development.
phonological processing disorder
A language-based learning difficulty affecting the ability to manipulate and process the sound structure of language.
phonotactics
The rules governing permissible sound sequences and syllable structures within a specific language.
phonotrauma
Mechanical injury to vocal fold tissues resulting from excessive or inappropriate voice use patterns.
pragmatics
The social use of language, including rules for conversation, context-appropriate communication, and nonverbal communica...
presbyphonia
Age-related voice changes characterized by vocal fold atrophy, reduced vocal efficiency, and altered voice quality in el...
PROMPT
Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets, a tactile-kinesthetic treatment approach.