Manic Monday: An Articulation Guide to Disney Princesses

My family took a Christmas week trip to Disney World, and one day on the way to Magic Kingdom, my daughter and I were talking about princesses. I happened to mention Cinderella and Rapunzel in the same sentence and then paused and mused - "Hmmm, those princesses have multisyllabic names with later-developing sounds." My daughter, who is 15, rolled her eyes and said, "Mom, stop being a speech therapist on vacation." But it gave me an idea - how do the princess names rate?

Disclaimer: This post is meant solely for entertainment and in no way replaces the advice and information from a speech/language pathologist (SLP). If you have concerns about your child's speech and/or communication, contact an SLP. Information is based on general guidelines according to ASHA and Playing with Words 365. All pictures are personal and cannot be used for any purpose other than this post.

Let's start with the two princess names with early-developing sounds - Anna and Tiana. Anna is one of the two newest princesses from Frozen. Her name is a vowel-consonant-vowel word with two syllables and /n/, one of the first sounds. Tiana has three syllables along with /n/ and /t/, two early developing sounds.

Children should be able to say these princess names by age 3.

Developmental substitutions: None

Princess names quickly skip to middle-developing sounds, or those developed by ages 5-6. Pocahontas might be daunting for a young child with its four syllables, but most of the sounds - except /s/ - should be developed by age 5.

Developmental substitutions: - a lisp for the the final /s/ sound, as in "Pocahontath"

Until age 5, /t/ for the /c/ sounds, as in "Potahontas"

Snow White has gained in popularity with recent movies and starring role on one of my favorite shows, Once Upon a Time. It only has two syllables but also a tricky "sn" blend.

Developmental substitutions: a lisp for /s/, as in "Thnow White"
Non-developmental substitutions: omission of /s/, as in "Now White"
omission of final sound, as in "Snow Whi"

A blurry iPhone photo of my son, a soldier in Enchanted Tales with Belle

Belle is my favorite princess because she is a brunette and loves to read. Her name is only one lovely syllable, but it also ends with the /l/ sound.
Developmental substitutions: difficulty with /l/, as in "Beuh", until age 6.
Non-developmental substitutions: omission of sounds, as in "Elle" or "Be"

Mulan is close behind with two syllables, an early-developing /m/, and a middle-developing /l/.
Developmental substitutions: /w/ for /l/, as in "Muwan"
Non-developmental substitutions: omission of a syllable, as in "Mu" or "Lan"
omission of sounds, as in "Mula"

Jasmine also has two syllables, but also the soft /g/ sound and a /z/ sound next to the /m/. Yes, I know it's spelled with an /s/, but say it - Jazz-muhn. We spell with /s/ and say with /z/. Yeah, welcome to my world.
Developmental substitutions: difficulty with the first soft /g/ sound until age 7
lips for /z/, as in "Jathmine", until ages 7-8
Non-developmental substitutions: /d/ for soft /g/, as in "Dasmine" for "Jasmine" after age 5
omission of /z/, as in "Jamine"after ages 4-5
omission of final /n/, as in "Jasmi"
omission of syllables, as in "Jas" or "Mine"

Haven't seen your favorite princess yet? Let's head into the world of late-developing sounds, which might not be fully developed until age 8.

Elsa is another Frozen princess and another favorite of mine because she is voiced by none other than the spectacular Idina Menzel! When my daughter and I saw the movie, we had just learned Idina had provided a voice, but we didn't know which character until the grown-up Elsa uttered her first syllable. And of course, our favorite part along with everyone else, was Idina's version of "Let It Go" with the amazing ice castle. (My counselor husband's take: "You liked the part where she decided to close the world out?" Me: "Yes - she loved everyone enough to protect them from herself". Counselor hubby: "She could have worked that out better". Me: "Did you sleep through the movie?")

Okay, back to the topic at hand. Elsa has /l/ and /s/ together but only two syllables.
Developmental substitutions: difficulty with /l/ until age 6
lisp for /s/ until ages 7-8, as in "Eltha"
Non-developmental substitutions: /t/ for /s/, as in "Elta" until ages 3-4
pronouncing the name with one syllable

Next up are the Tremaines. Yes, I know they are not technically royalty, but THEY think they are! And if I don't include them, they might come stalk me. Plus, if you are doing the Magic Kingdom Princess Tour, the Tremaines are a must - they are a hoot!

Lady Tremaine has four syllables, the /l/, and an /r/ blend. /r/ sometimes does not develop until age 8.
Developmental substitutions: /w/ for /l/ until age 6, as in "Wady"
/w/ for /r/ until age 8, as in "Twemaine"
Non-developmental substitutions: omissions of sounds, as in "Temaine"

Drizella has three syllables and lots of middle- to late-developing sounds - the /dr/ blend, the /z/, and the /l/.
Developmental substitutions: /w/ for /r/, as in "Dwizella"
Lisp for /z/, as in "Drithella"
/w/ for /l/ until age 6, as in "Drizewa"
Non-developmental substitutions: omission of the /r/ completely, as in "Dizella"
/d/ for /z/ after ages 3-4, as in "Dridella"

Anastasia wins the family syllable contest with four. She has the /st/ blend, and the final /s/ is pronounced as /zh/.
Developmental substitutions: lisp for /s/, as in "Anathtasia"
Difficulty with /zh/ until age 7
Non-developmental substitutions: omission of the first /s/, as in "Anatasia"
/t/ for the second /s/, or /zh/, after ages 3-4, as in "Anastatia"

Merida can teach you how how to shoot an arrow, but she also has a tricky vocalic /r/ in her name. Luckily, it's bordered by the easier consonants of /m/ and /d/.
Developmental substitutions: /w/ for /r/, as in "Mewida" until age 8
Non-developmental substitutions: any omissions of syllables or sounds in "Merida"

Ah, Ariel. A lilting, musical name for a singing mermaid. But this name also has a vocalic /r/ plus the /l/. /r/ and /l/ are in the same family of sounds called glides, and it can be tricky to say them in the same word.
Developmental substitutions: difficulty with /l/ until age 6, as in "Arieuh"
difficulty with /r/ until age 8, as in "Awiel"
Non-developmental substitutions: omissions of sounds or syllables

Rapunzel has a German heritage along with three syllables and a few tricky sounds.
Developmental substitutions: /w/ for /r/, as in "Wapunzel" until age 8
Lisp for /z/, as in "Rapunthel" until age 8
Difficulty with /l/, as in "Rapuntheuh" until age 6
Non-developmental substitutions: omissions of sounds or syllables
omission of /z/, as in "Rapunel"
/d/ for /z/ after age 4, as in "Rapundel"

Cinderella has the big beautiful castle to accompany her four syllables and three late-developing sounds. She also has a nickname - Cindy - if the whole word is too difficult to say.
Developmental substitutions: lisp for "C" until age 8, as in "Thinderella"
difficulty with /r/ until age 8, as in "Cinduhwella"
difficulty with /l/ until age 6, as in "Cinderewuh"
Non-developmental substitutions: omission of syllables
omissions of sounds in a blend, as in "Cinerella"or "Ciderella"

Aurora is another favorite princess because of one of my first speech students. When she was in second grade, she came to me and asked if I knew what Sleeping Beauty's real name was. That was before my own little princess was born, and I did not know my Disney princesses very well. The student told me, but she was working on /r/, and I did not understand her production of "Aurora". This was also before the internet, so I couldn't just do a Google search, and she left the session disappointed that I didn't know the real name. She became determined to say "Aurora" correctly, and a few weeks later, she did! And then - because Aurora has a lot of tricky /r/ sounds - the production quickly generalized and she graduated from speech a short time later.

With Aurora, we are looking at three syllables and an easy start  with the "A" sounding like "uh". It then quickly transitions to /r/ followed by the hardest vocalic /r/ sound, /or/, before going back to "uh". Easy first and last syllables with a very difficult middle.
Developmental substitutions: difficulty with /r/ until age 8, as in "Awoahuh"
Non-developmental substitutions: any omissions of syllables

If you are going to Disney and looking for characters, check out easywdw's guide and Kenny the Pirate's site for more information about where to find the princesses. Have a magical day!