A 2-year-old child pronounces "bottle" as [baba]. What speech simplification process is exemplified?

The scenario described involves a child pronouncing “bottle” as [baba], which showcases the process of reduplication. This speech simplification occurs when a child takes a complex target word and simplifies it by repeating a syllable or a part of the word. In this case, the child drops the final consonant sound and reduces the word to a simpler structure by using a repeated syllable.

Reduplication is a common developmental pattern in young children as they are still mastering complex phonetic and phonological structures. This method allows them to express themselves with words that are easier for them to articulate at that stage of their language development.

Other processes like gliding, stopping, and devoicing have different characteristics: gliding involves substituting a glide consonant for a liquid consonant (like saying "wabbit" instead of "rabbit"), stopping replaces fricatives or affricates with stops (such as saying “pish” instead of “fish”), and devoicing refers to voicing sounds being produced without their accompanying voiced element (like saying "pat" for "bat"). Each of these processes has distinct phonetic outcomes that differ from what is observed in the child’s example of reduplication.