PURPOSE: To identify the acquisition profiles of the archiphonemes /N, L, S, R/ in medial and final coda position in Brazilian Portuguese in transversal and longitudinal studies. METHODS: Speech samples of 170 children with ages between one year and two months and three years and eight months (transversal study), as well as speech samples of a child, G., monitored from one year, one month and twenty two days to three years, four months and twenty seven days (longitudinal study), were collected and phonologically analyzed. RESULTS: In the transversal profile, data showed the early emergence of the blocked syllable (at one year and two months), and completion of the acquisition at three years and eight months. The phonemes in final coda tended to emerge before the ones in medial coda, with rare exceptions. The /L/ and the /N/ archiphonemes were the first to emerge in this position. After that, it was observed the /L/ acquisition, and, finally, the /R/ acquisition. In the longitudinal study, the coda also emerged early, coincidentally when the child was one year and two months old; however, it was acquired six months before what it was observed in the transversal data, at three years and eight months. The emerging syllable contained the /N/ rather than the /L/, as observed in the transversal data. The /L/ was the second phoneme in coda, while the /S/ was still earlier than the /R/, and these two phonemes were the last segments to emerge as a syllabic block. In all cases, the phonemes in final coda emerged before those in medial coda, similarly to the transversal results. CONCLUSION: The acquisition of the final coda showed similar profiles, regardless the type of study - longitudinal or transversal.
Speech perception; Cross-sectional studies; Longitudinal studies; Child; Speech
