People are uniquely adept at language learning, but the source of their linguistic talent remains controversial: Is linguistic ability due to a specialized linguistic system, or to mechanisms that are not specifically linguistic (e.g., auditory processing, motor control and statistical learning)? Research in the Phonology and Reading lab seeks to address this question by examining people’s knowledge of phonology—the sound structure of language.  Linguistic research suggests that across languages, certain syllables are systematically dispreferred. For example, syllables such as lbif are dispreferred relative to syllables such as bnif.  If such preferences reflect universal grammatical constraints that disfavor structures like lbif, then speakers should favor bnif to lbif even if their language allows neither. Our research examines these predictions. To this end, we probe for such preferences among speakers of various languages (e.g., English, Korean, Hebrew and Spanish), examine their source—whether they reflect grammatical restrictions, articulatory and acoustic preferences and trace their developmental trajectory among infants and children.  In view of the central role of the phonological system in the acquisition of reading skill, we are also interested in comparing the phonological systems of skilled and disabled readers.