Brazilian Portuguese is spoken across several countries, including Brazil, French Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, and Colombia. It comprises multiple dialects such as baiano, caipira, carioca, florianopolitano or manezinho da ilha, fluminense, gaúcho, mineiro, nordestino central, nortista, paulistano, recifense, serra amazônica, and sulista. Brazilian Portuguese contains 19 consonants, 15 consonant clusters, seven vowels, 26 oral diphthongs and triphthongs, and an alphabetic writing system with letter-sound correspondence. Several studies have examined speech sound acquisition and mastery in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children. While most of these studies involve children with speech sound disorders, especially phonological disorders, recent research has been focused on motor speech disorders, especially childhood apraxia of speech. There are many speech assessment tools in these populations that are used to evaluate speech sound disorders. The interventions used in these populations include modified cycles, phonological contrasts (minimal opposition, maximum opposition/empty set, or multiple opposition pairs), complexity-based, metaphonological, and stimulability approaches.

Key words:
Brazil, Brazilian Portuguese, multilingual, communication, speech, language, children’s development, interdisciplinary, international communities, assessment, intervention

Book chapter:
Ceron, M. I., Gubiani, M. B. & Keske-Soares, M. (2025). Portuguese (Brazilian) speech development. In S. McLeod (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of speech development in languages of the world. Oxford University Press.

Language overview presentation:

• Ceron, M. I., Gubiani, M. B. & Keske-Soares, M. (2024). Portuguese (Brazilian): Multilingual children’s speech development. Charles Sturt University, Australia. https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/languages
• PowerPoint: Portuguese (Brazilian) [Portuguese version] – Children’s Speech Development (pdf)
• PowerPoint: Portuguese (Brazilian) [English version] – Children’s Speech Development (pdf)

This presentation relates to the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goals