Segmental acquisition of Brazilian Portuguese: onset simple, complex and coda.

The children were recruited from 12 schools in two cities in Rio Grande do Sul, so the results may not represent all Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children. The sample was of convenience and only included children judged to have typical phonological acquisition; 417 of the 1274 authorized children were excluded. Children under 3 years were not assessed, so the study cannot give exact ages for segments that were already mastered before 3.0. The study used average percentages by 6-month age groups, and the authors note that one child may acquire a segment earlier and another later, as shown for /ʎ/. Some target words may be pronounced differently for sociocultural reasons, which could affect segment scores such as /ʎ/. It was cross-sectional, so it shows age differences at one time point rather than tracking each child's development over time.

Do not treat these ages as universal norms for all Brazilian Portuguese children or as proof of atypical phonological acquisition by themselves. The sample was from southern Brazil, children under 3 were not evaluated, and the authors say acquisition and domain parameters should be considered with the percentage curve.