If a child's language exhibits the phonological process of gliding, the child might say [wɛd] for "red." When asked, "Do you mean wed?" the child may respond, "No! [wɛd]!" Such a response demonstrates which of the following?

• A. Phonological development lags behind semantic development.
• B. Semantic development lags behind phonological development.
• C. Linguistic competence lags behind linguistic performance.
• D. Linguistic performance lags behind linguistic competence.

Answer: (D)

The main idea is the distinction between linguistic competence and linguistic performance. The child clearly has knowledge of the word and its meaning (linguistic competence)—they understand that the target word is “red.” But because of ongoing phonological development, their production applies a process (gliding) that changes the intended sound, so they say [wɛd]. When asked if they mean “wed,” they hold to their spoken form, illustrating that the actual speech output (linguistic performance) doesn’t yet match the underlying knowledge. This shows performance lagging behind competence: the knowledge is there, but the ability to produce the correct form isn’t fully realized yet. It’s not about meaning or semantics being behind, and it’s not that competence exceeds performance in the sense of a mismatch the other way around.