Acquisition of the non-lateral liquid by children from Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais - Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Studies have shown that the acquisition of the non-lateral liquids, both in the Portuguese and the English language, occurs at a later stage due to the acoustic and articulatory characteristics of those phonemes. However, there is no consensus as to the age of their acquisition. Thus, it is important to know the outcomes of research in the various geographic regions given the existing linguistic variants. Aim: To assess the acquisition of the phoneme /ſ/ by children who are speakers of the Brazilian Portuguese variant spoken in the city of Belo Horizonte (state of Minas Gerais) in simple and complex onset. Method: The sample comprised 86 children aged 3 years to 6 years 11 months from public and private schools with typical language development. The phoneme was considered acquired when 75% of the children produced at least 75% of the words correctly. Results: The phoneme /ſ/ was acquired at 4 years of age in simple onset and at 6 years in complex onset. Conclusion: The acquisition of the phoneme /ſ/ in simple onset by the children in our study is comparable to that observed in children from the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Rio de Janeiro. Regarding the complex onset, the age of acquisition was comparable to that of a study conducted in São Paulo state.