Breaking Down Kid Talk: Is It Speech or Language?

Speech vs. Language: What’s the Difference (And Why Should You Care)?

Unless you’re a speech-language pathologist or you’ve spent a questionable amount of time Googling “why does my toddler call a cat a ‘tat,’” you’ve probably used the words speech and language interchangeably.

And that’s totally fair.

They sound like they mean the same thing.

But here’s the thing: speech and language are not the same. They’re more like roommates who live in the same house (aka communication) but have totally different jobs.

So let’s break it down without getting too textbook-y, so you know what’s what when it comes to your child’s communication skills.

💬 What Is Language?

Language is the system we use to understand and express ideas. It’s how we share our wants, needs, feelings, thoughts, opinions, snack requests, dinosaur facts, and 47 questions about why bugs have so many legs.

It includes both receptive language (understanding) and expressive language (talking, signing, or writing). And here’s where it gets fun, it doesn’t have to include speaking. A child using sign language, gestures, or even a communication device is still using language.

Let’s tease apart the two subcategories of language to understand them a little bit better:

Receptive Language = Understanding

Includes your child’s ability to understand the words and language they hear (or see, in the case of sign language). This includes things like following directions, answering questions, understanding stories, or recognizing the meaning of words and phrases. It’s how they make sense of what’s being said around them, even if they aren’t saying anything back yet. Receptive language develops before expressive language.

Examples:

• Following directions like “Put your shoes by the door.”

• Answering a question like “What do cows say?”

• Listening to and understanding a story

Expressive Language = Expressing

Includes your child’s ability to use words, signs, gestures, or pictures to communicate their own thoughts, wants, and ideas. This could be as simple as saying “milk,” signing “more,” or putting together a sentence like “I want the ball.” It’s all about how they express themselves to others.

Examples:

• Saying “more milk” or signing “stop”

• Telling you, “My socks are itchy”

• Drawing your attention to the neighbor’s dog with “DOG! DOG! DOG!”

If language were an umbrella

(a cute polka-dotted one, naturally), it would cover:

• Vocabulary (knowing words like “truck” or “banana”)

• Grammar (knowing how to turn “run” into “ran” or add “-s” for plurals)

• Sentence building (putting words together like “I want the blue truck”)

• Social use of language (knowing when to say “excuse me” versus “YO!”)

🗣️ So What Is Speech Then?

Speech is all about how we say words. It’s the physical production of sounds that make up the words we’re trying to communicate. This involves coordinating the tongue, lips, vocal cords, and breath, aka, your mouth’s version of a Cirque du Soleil performance.

A child may know exactly what they want to say (they have the language), but if they’re still figuring out how to produce certain sounds, it might come out a little… creative.

Example:

• What they want to say: “I want a snack.”

• What they actually say: “I wa a na.”

Did you know?

Producing a single spoken word involves the coordination of over 100 muscles in your lips, tongue, jaw, vocal cords, and even your diaphragm. All of that has to work together in perfect timing within milliseconds!

So when your toddler says “buh” for ball, just know their little brain and body are doing a ton of behind-the-scenes work to make that sound happen. Speech is basically a full-body workout… but for your face.

So what falls under the umbrella of speech?

• Articulation

• Fluency (stuttering, cluttering)

• Voice

In essence, a great way to think about the difference between speech and language is this:

Language is what we say

Speech is how we say it

🧠 Let’s Quiz Your Knowledge! (Answers at the End)

Now that you’ve got the basics, let’s put your new skills to the test. Each of the following examples is either a speech issue or a language issue. Can you tell which is which?

1. A child says “wabbit” instead of “rabbit.”

2. A child doesn’t respond when asked, “Where’s your shoe?”

3. A child uses one-word utterances like “milk” or “up” but hasn’t started combining words yet.

4. A child says “top” instead of “stop.”

5. A child has a large vocabulary but struggles to put sentences together clearly.

6. A child says, “I-I-I want the truck.”

Think you got it? Keep reading! Answers are at the end!

🎯 Common Speech Errors (That Are Usually Age-Appropriate)

Most kids don’t wake up one day speaking in full, crystal-clear sentences. Speech sounds develop over time, and some sounds take a while to master.

Some early-developing sounds:

• /b/ as in bat

• /m/ as in mom

Some later-developing sounds:

• /r/ as in rat

• /th/ as in bath

Here are a few totally typical speech errors young kids make when they are young:

• “Wabbit” for rabbit

• “Tat” for cat

• “Teef” for teeth

• “Yeyow” for yellow

• “Top” for stop

These types of errors often go away on their own as a child’s speech skills develop. If they’re within the expected range for their age, there's usually no need to panic.

Dialectal Differences

A quick, important note on dialectal differences. Speech differences based on dialect are not errors. Every dialect has its own rules and norms, and we honor them as valid forms of communication. Here are a couple examples of dialectal differences:

• Producing /f/ “f” for “th” (ex., “baf” for “bath”)- common feature of Black English

• Producing /b/ “b” for /v/ “v” (ex., “ban” for “van”)- a typical feature in Spanish-influenced English

• Interchanging the “r” and /l/ sounds (e.g., saying “rike” instead of “like”) - common in some East Asian English accents, especially influenced by Japanese, Korean, or Cantonese, where those sounds are tricky to distinguish.

👀 So... Can a Child Have a Problem with One and Not the Other?

Yes! A child can have:

• A language delay or disorder (difficulty understanding or using words)

• A speech delay or disorder (difficulty producing speech sounds clearly)

• Or a combination of both

And here’s why it matters: both can affect a child’s ability to communicate effectively. If they don’t understand what’s being said, or they can’t say what they mean in a way that others can understand, it can lead to frustration (for both the child and the grown-ups involved).

Here are some very simplified examples for the sake of understanding:

• If a child says “wabbit” to label a rabbit, they clearly have the language to know what the animal is, they are just misproducing the word. This would be a speech problem.

• If a child says “dog” to label a rabbit, they clearly produced “dog” so their speech is in-tact, but their vocabulary and language is affected.

• If a child says “dah” to label a rabbit, they are mispronouncing “dog” and mislabeling the animal, this may be a combination of speech and language difficulties.

🚨 When to Keep an Eye on It

Here are a few signs it might be time to chat with a speech-language pathologist:

• Your child is very hard to understand for their age

  • 1 to 2 years old: About 25% to 50% of what your toddler says is understood by strangers.

  • 2 to 3 years old: Intelligibility improves to about 50% to 75%.

  • 3 to 4 years old: Around 75% to 90% of their speech is understandable.

  • 4 to 5 years old: Typically, speech is about 90% to 100% intelligible.

• They use very few words or don’t combine words by age 2

• They have trouble following directions or answering simple questions

• You’re the only one who can interpret their “language”

• You just have a gut feeling something’s not quite typical (Always trust that gut. You know your kid.)

Final Thoughts

Speech and language are different, but they work together like a team. One handles the ideas and meaning (language), and the other handles the sounds and clarity (speech). Some kids have trouble with one. Some with both. And some are just working on it in their own time.

If you're unsure where your child falls, don't stress. You're not expected to figure it all out alone. Reach out to a licensed speech-language pathologist if you have concerns, they're basically communication detectives.

And until then? Keep talking, playing, singing, and reading. Whether it's speech or language, it all starts with connection.

✅ Quiz Answers:

1. Speech – Substituting "w" for "r" is a speech sound issue.

2. Language – Not understanding or following directions relates to receptive language.

3. Language – Limited expressive language; combining words is part of language development.

4. Speech – Substituting “t” for “s” is a speech sound error.

5. Language – Sentence structure and grammar are language skills.

6. Speech- Stuttering is considered a speech difference

How’d you do?!