Hmm. Are you saying that his nearpoint copying of a word can be wrong? How's his handwriting? Has he been looked at by an occupational therapist, for perceptual-motor or visual-motor integration, or a vision therapist/developmental optometrist, for visual tracking? Early speech delays are often related to oral-motor coordination issues, which would link up with other motor planning stuff that might impact writing, in particular.

...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...