Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

critical period

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.68 in modern English

Syllables
crit-i-cal pe-ri-od
IPA
21
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
5
Syllables
10
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A maturational stage in the lifespan of an organism during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to certain environmental stimuli.

noun

According to a disputed hypothesis, the limited period — before reaching a certain age — in which a person can achieve native-like fluency in a language.

Inflected Forms

critical periods (plural)

Questions

What does critical period mean?
A maturational stage in the lifespan of an organism during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to certain environmental stimuli.

How to pronounce critical period

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “critical period”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “critical period”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “critical period” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.