This study examined perceptual and articulatory confusions among the fricatives /f, v, s, z/ and voiced and unvoiced "th" in preschool children. (These phonemes are among the most difficult for children to articulate.) Seventeen children from 3.3-5.1 years of age were tested on syllables formed by taking all combinations of the six fricatives in initial (CV) and final (VC) position with one of the vowels /a, i, aI/. Discrimination and articulation tests of this syllable set were then given. An audiovisual system was used to test discrimination. The fricatives were substantially more difficult to discriminate than the control items. Two contrasts, /v/ and voiced "th" and /f/ and unvoiced "th", were particularly difficult. There were fewer errors on VC than CV pairs. No differences were associated with the vowel, but there was some evidence that vowel duration was employed as a cue for discrimination of fricatives in final position. While there was a significant correlation between the number of discrimination and articulation errors per child, there was little evidence that articulation errors on specific phonemes were accompanied by discrimination errors on the same phonemes, and no evidence that the frequency of occurrence of specific phonemes in children's speech was substantially related to discrimination or articulation. (Author/AMM)