Which stage of prelinguistic phonological development involves true vowel sounds?

The stage of prelinguistic phonological development characterized by the production of true vowel sounds is vocal play. During this stage, which typically occurs around 4 to 6 months of age, infants begin to experiment with their vocal apparatus, producing a variety of sounds. This includes not only vowel sounds but also combinations of consonants and vowels, as they explore the pitch, volume, and quality of their voices.

Vocal play is important because it lays the foundation for later speech development. The production of true vowel sounds indicates that infants are beginning to gain more control over their vocalizations, which is a pivotal step in the pathway to articulate speech. This stage can be seen as a time of exploration and creativity, where infants practice the sounds that will eventually become part of their spoken language.

In contrast, the other stages do not primarily focus on true vowel production. Cooing and laughter involve coo-like sounds that are predominantly made up of vowel-like sounds but lack the complexity and variety found in vocal play. Canonical babbling, which occurs later, is characterized by repetitive consonant-vowel combinations but is built upon the skills developed during vocal play. Reflexive vocalizations are the earliest sounds produced by infants, which are primarily unintent