PURPOSE: to comparatively analyze the change in types and tokens and the rate of type / token in children of both genders, aged between 18 and 36 months, native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, as for grammatical category and total measure and segmental aspect. METHOD: the speech of sixty children with typical language acquisition was recorded while playing with their mothers or teachers. The type/token ratio (TTR) and the total and segmental types and tokens were calculated, as for their grammatical distribution. The results were submitted to statistical analyses by Student Test and Variance Analysis (ANOVA). RESULTS: the total number of types and the tokens is more effective to describe children grammatical evolution, among 18 and 32 months age, than the segmental one. Substantives emerge first than verbs, adverbs, adjectives and others grammatical categories. All of the grammatical categories are in production at the 32 months of age. CONCLUSION: no statistical differences were found among genders. The analysis of types and tokens is more effective than TTR and differentiated statically the ages: 18, 24 and 32 months. The segmental numbers of types and tokens is a less effective measure for the grammatical description in ages and genders.
Evaluation; Language Tests; Child Language; Vocabulary
