Open main menu

A lisp is a speech impediment in which a person misarticulates sibilants ([s], [z], [ts], [dz]), ([ʃ], [ʒ], [], []).[1] These misarticulations often result in unclear speech.

Other namesSigmatism



  • A frontal lisp occurs when the tongue is placed anterior of the target. Interdental lisping is produced when the tip of the tongue protrudes between the front teeth and dentalised lisping is produced when the tip of the tongue just touches the front teeth. The transcription in the International Phonetic Alphabet for interdental sibilants is [s̪͆] and [z̪͆] and for simple dental sibilants is [s̟] and [z̟]. When a fronted lisp does not have a sibilant quality, due to placing the lack of a grooved articulation, the IPA transcription would be [θ, ð] or variants thereof.
  • A lateral lisp occurs when the [s] and [z] sounds are produced with air-flow over the sides of the tongue. It is also called "slushy ess" or a "slushy lisp" in part to its wet, spitty sound. The symbols for these lateralised sounds in the extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet for disordered speech are [ʪ] and [ʫ].
  • A nasal lisp occurs when part or the entire air stream is directed through the nasal cavity. The transcription for sibilants with nasal frication in the extensions to the IPA is [s͋] and [z͋]; simple nasal fricatives are [s̃] and [z̃].
  • A strident lisp results in a high frequency whistle of hissing sound caused by stream passing between the tongue and the hard surface. In the extensions to the IPA, whistled sibilants are transcribed [s͎] and [z͎].
  • A palatal lisp is where the speaker attempts to make a sibilant while the middle of the tongue is in contact with the soft palate,[1] or with a posterior articulation of the sibilant. The latter may be transcribed [s̠] and [z̠], [ʃ] and [ʒ], or the like.[2]


Successful treatments have shown that causes are functional rather than physical: that is, most lisps are caused by errors in tongue placement or fatness of tongue within the mouth rather than caused by any injury or congenital deformity to the mouth. The most frequently discussed of these problems is tongue thrust in which the tongue protrudes beyond the front teeth.[3]This protrusion affects speech as well as swallowing and can lead to lisping. Ankyloglossia or tongue tie can also be responsible for lisps in children – however, it is unclear whether these deficiencies are caused by the tongue tie itself or the muscle weakness following the correction of the tongue tie.[4] Overbites and underbites may also contribute to non lingual lisping. Temporary lisps can be caused by dental work, dental appliances such as dentures or retainers or by swollen or bruised tongues.



Lisps caused by tongue tie can be treated by a dentist with a frenectomy, or laser incision, which takes less than 10 to 15 minutes to complete.[5][6][7]

Speech therapyEdit

With an interdental lisp, the therapist teaches the child how to keep the tongue behind the two front incisors.[8]


Take for example, correction of an "S" sound (lisp). Most likely, a speech language pathologist (SLP) would employ exercises to work on "Sssssss." Starting practice words would most likely consist of "S-initial" words such as "say, sun, soap, sip, sick, said, sail." According to this protocol, the SLP slowly increases the complexity of tasks (context of pronunciations) as the production of the sound improves. Examples of increased complexity could include saying words in phrases and sentences, saying longer multi syllabic words, or increasing the tempo of pronunciation.


Another popular method for treating a lisp is using specially designed devices that go in the mouth to provide a tactile cue of exactly where the tongue should be positioned when saying the "S" sound. This tactile feedback has been shown to correct lisp errors twice as fast as traditional therapy.




When the difficult sound is mastered, the child will then learn to say the sound in syllables, then words, then phrases and then sentences. When a child can speak a whole sentence without lisping, attention is then focused on making correct sounds throughout natural conversation. Towards the end of the course of therapy, the child will be taught how to monitor his or her own speech, and how to correct as necessary. Speech therapy can sometimes fix the problem, but however in some cases speech therapy fails to work.

See alsoEdit


  1. ^ a b Bowen, Caroline. "Lisping - when /s/ and /z/ are hard to say". Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2006-03-07.
  2. ^ John M. Reisman (1986). Behavior Disorders in Infants, Children, and Adolescents. Random House. ISBN 978-0-394-35576-4.
  3. ^ Peters M (2006-11-01). BMA A-Z Family Medical Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley Limited. p. 470. ISBN 1-4053-0264X.
  4. ^ Rege, Vivek. "Tongue Tie in Infants". Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  5. ^ Segal LM, Stephenson R, Dawes M, Feldman P (June 2007). "Prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of ankyloglossia: methodologic review". Can Fam Physician. 53 (6): 1027–33. PMC 1949218. PMID 17872781.
  6. ^ Kupietzky A, Botzer E (2005). "Ankyloglossia in the infant and young child: clinical suggestions for diagnosis and management". Pediatr Dent. 27 (1): 40–6. PMID 15839394.
  7. ^ Suter VG, Bornstein MM (August 2009). "Ankyloglossia: facts and myths in diagnosis and treatment". J. Periodontol. 80 (8): 1204–19. doi:10.1902/jop.2009.090086. PMID 19656020.
  8. ^ Wilson LB (April 1999). "Unlearning a lisp". Parenting. 13 (3): 172.

External linksEdit