A child's production of "spaghetti" as "gasghetti" is an example of what phenomenon?

The production of "spaghetti" as "gasghetti" illustrates consonant harmony because it shows a pattern in which the child alters the consonant sounds to create a more phonetic alignment that is easier for them to articulate. In this case, the initial consonant cluster "sp" is simplified to "g," showing how the child modifies consonants adjacent to each other to create a sound that is more consistent within the word.

Consonant harmony often occurs when children are learning to master complex sound patterns, and they tend to simplify these sounds to more familiar or easier ones. This process exemplifies how children's speech development often includes making adjustments to sounds in order to ease pronunciation, where they may inadvertently favor sounds that are used elsewhere in the word (in this example, the "g" sound appears in both the initial and medial positions).