Toddlers with slow expressive language development were compared on three global measures of phonological behavior to age-mates with normal speech development. The measures were the average level of complexity of syllable structures, the number of different consonant phonemes produced, and the percentage of consonants correctly produced in intelligible utterances. The groups were found to differ significantly on all three variables. Further analyses broke the groups down into narrower age ranges and revealed differences between youngsters with normal and late speech development. Detailed analyses of the range of phonemes and syllable structures produced, and of the appearance of phoneme classes within syllable structures and positions, revealed that late talkers showed a delayed rather than a deviant pattern of phonological development. The implications of these findings for identifying and monitoring expressive delay in toddlers are discussed. Contains 32 references. (Author/LB)