Vowels, syllables, and letter names 1 Running Head: CHILDREN’S SPELLING IN ENGLISH AND PORTUGUESE Vowels, Syllables, and Letter Names: Differences Between Young Children’s Spelling in

Vowels, syllables, and letter names 2 Young Portuguese-speaking children have been reported to produce more vowel- and syllable-oriented spellings than English speakers. To investigate the extent and source of such differences, we analyzed children’s vocabulary and found that Portuguese words have more vowel letter names and a higher vowel–consonant ratio than English. In a spelling experiment, we found that Portuguese speakers used more vowels than English speakers but did not produce more syllabic spellings. The differences that we observed are attributable to quantitative differences in the languages and their writing and letter name systems; they do not support the widespread idea that speakers of Romance languages pass through an additional, syllabic, stage of development. Vowels, syllables, and letter names