Five-year old Jordan is seeing a speech therapist in his preschool once a week because he has difficulty saying the 'r' sound in his own name. When he says his name, people think it sounds like 'jaw-dun.' From a language perspective, Jordan is having difficulty with a specific

• A. pragmatic.
• B. morpheme.
• C. phoneme.
• D. syntax.

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the problem: Jordan is having difficulty pronouncing the 'r' sound in his name, which is a common issue in language development.
2. Identify the relevant language component: In linguistics, a phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language.
3. Differentiate between language components: Pragmatics involves the use of language in social contexts, morphemes are the smallest units of meaning, and syntax refers to the arrangement of words and phrases to create sentences.
4. Recognize that the issue is with sound production: Since Jordan's difficulty is with the pronunciation of a specific sound, it relates to phonemes rather than pragmatics, morphemes, or syntax.
5. Conclude that the correct term for Jordan's difficulty is 'phoneme,' as it pertains to the sound structure of language.