Which of the following is the most common phonological problem evidenced by young children aged 18-29 months?

The most common phonological problem seen in young children aged 18-29 months is cluster reduction. This occurs when a child simplifies consonant clusters (groups of two or more consonants) by omitting one or more sounds. For instance, a child might say "pane" instead of "plane."

During this developmental stage, it is typical for children to simplify their speech as they are still mastering the complex motor skills required for producing various sounds. Cluster reduction reflects the child's cognitive and physical ability to articulate sounds and is a natural part of language development. Recognizing this helps speech-language pathologists understand normal phonological development and identify when further intervention is necessary.

The other issues, while they may also occur, are less prevalent as phonological processes in this age group. Velar fronting refers to the substitution of sounds produced at the back of the mouth (like /k/ and /g/) with those produced at the front (like /t/ and /d/). Nasal assimilation involves changing a non-nasal sound to a nasal sound due to the influence of neighboring nasal sounds, which is less of a common stage in early development. Diminutization is when a child adds a diminutive suffix such as "-y" or