Final answer:
Shriberg's developmental stages outline the universal sequence of language acquisition, starting with cooing and progressing through babbling to the utterance of the first meaningful word around 12 months. By 18 months, children begin combining words, reflecting the increasing mastery of their language's phonemes.
Step-by-step explanation:
When examining the typical acquisition of speech sounds in a typically developing child, we can refer to Shriberg's developmental stages. These stages demonstrate a universal sequence in which children across cultures acquire language milestones. Language acquisition begins with the ability to discriminate among the distinct sounds in human language, a skill present even in infants. Eventually, infants lose the ability to recognize the phonemes not present in their environment and focus on the sounds critical to their own language.
Initially, infants engage in cooing, which is the production of one-syllable combinations of consonants and vowels, and this typically reflects the language spoken in their environment. This is followed by the babbling stage, where babies repeat syllables such as "ma-ma" or "ba-ba". Around 12 months, a child will often utter their first meaningful word and begin to combine words for meaning after reaching 18 months. This progression from cooing to babbling to producing first words and then sentences reflects the child's growing mastery of their language's phonemes and their use in communication.