语音意识是儿童早期语言发展的关键内容，并为之后阅读能力的学习奠定重要基础。在印欧语系中，音节意识，音素意识，首音意识和尾音意识是儿童语音发展早期重要的关注对象。研究发现音节意识会随着年龄增长自然产生，而音素意识仍需归结于识字教育。对汉语而言，汉语是语素音节文字(morphosyllabic)，汉语发音的自然单位主要为音节。同时汉语中存在着“拼音”这样的特殊语音编码系统，以及在描述汉语发音时将语音分为声母，韵母，以及声调三个部分，因此相比于印欧语系，汉语儿童的早期语音发展可能存在独特的发展规律。以往针对汉语3-6岁儿童的语音意识研究发现中文语音发展存在特定规律，如音节意识和尾音意识可能受年龄或者非正式语言经历的影响，首音意识的发展可能是正式教育的结果，而声调意识则在接受正式教育后才出现明显改善。但是，目前对从音节到不同语音水平（音节、音素）的发展递进关系，还有早期语音发展与词汇学习之间的关系仍是未知。本研究的主要目的是探究2-6岁儿童的音节意识，多层面的首音、尾音意识，以及声调意识的发展，同时探究儿童的表达性词汇语言对语音意识发展的影响作用。结果显示汉语语音意识的发展依旧遵循声音单元从大到小的原则，即从音节到亚音节再到音素的发展规律；词汇量大小能够正向预测声调意识。

Phonological awareness is a crucial aspect of children's early language development and lays an important foundation for later reading acquisition. In Indo-European languages, syllable awareness, phoneme awareness, onset awareness, and rime awareness are important early focal points in the development of phonology in children. Research has shown that syllable awareness naturally emerges with age, while phoneme awareness still depends on literacy education. In the case of Chinese, which is morphosyllabic, the natural units of Chinese pronunciation are primarily syllables. Additionally, Chinese features a unique phonetic coding system, "pinyin," and divides its phonetics into three components when describing pronunciation: onset, rime, and tone. Consequently, compared to Indo-European languages, Chinese children’s early phonological development may follow a unique pattern. Previous research on phonological awareness in Chinese children aged 3-6 years has found certain specific patterns in Chinese phonological development. For instance, syllable and rime awareness may be influenced by age or informal language experiences, while onset awareness might result from formal education. Tone awareness, on the other hand, shows marked improvement after receiving formal education. However, the progression from syllable awareness to different levels of phonological awareness (syllable, phoneme), as well as the relationship between early phonological development and vocabulary learning, remains unknown. In this study, our primary objective is to explore the development of syllable awareness, multi-level onset and rime awareness, and tone awareness in children aged 2-6 years. Additionally, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of children expressive vocabulary language on the development of phonological awareness. The results show that the development of Chinese phonological awareness still follows the principle of sound unit from large to small, that is, from syllable to sub-syllabic level to phoneme. Vocabulary size positively predicts tone awareness.