Normative Features of Phoneme Acquisition in Brazilian Portuguese

Purpose: To analyze the influence of gender, age, and types of school (public or private) on phoneme production, and provide normative data on phonological acquisition in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). Patients and Methods: The sample consisted of 733 children (ages 3 years to 8 years and 11 months), all monolingual speakers of BP with typical phonological development. Participants were evaluated using the spontaneous naming task from the Phonological Assessment Tool (Instrumento de Avaliacao Fonologica - INFONO). The children's speech production was audio-recorded, transcribed, and submitted to phonological analysis. Results: The effect of age was significant for all phonemes and syllable structures, especially when analyzed in combination with types of school and gender. Overall, phoneme production accuracy increased with age and varied depending on the types of school attended by the children, but did not differ between genders. Conclusion: Age had a greater impact on phoneme production. The normative data on phonological acquisition highlighted the differences between the ages of mastery for different phonemes, with elements such as the /r/ sound and complex onsets being acquired much later in development than some of the other phonemes analyzed.