SYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENT
DR. ALFREVILYN G. DASIG
Instructor
ANACITA Q. LOCION
Student – Blue Team
One-Word Stage
Property:
Utterances that can be used to express the type of meaning that is associated
with an entire sentence in adult speech. (12-18 months)
Example: dada - “I see Daddy”
more - “Give me more juice” holophrases (whole sentences)
up – “I want up”
In holophrastic sentences, children seem to choose the
most informative word that applies to the situation at hand.
Example:
1. A child who wants juice, would say juice rather
than want since juice is more informative in the situation.
2. A child who notices a new doll would be more likely to say
doll rather than see, referring to the most novel feature of
the situation he or she is trying to describe.
Table 9.16 Semantic relations in children’s one-word
utterances
Semantic relation Utterances Situation
Agent of an action dada As father enters the room
Action or state down As father sits down
Undergoer (for theme) door As father closes the door
Location here As child points
Recipient mama As child gives mother something
Recurrence again As child watches lighting of a match
- Comprehension appears to be considerably advance of
production and children are able to understand many multiword
utterances during this period.
Big Bird is
- listened to sentences such as
hugging Cookie Monster as experimenter
tracked their gaze toward
competing pictures: the children preferred to look at a depiction
of Big Bird hugging Cookie Monster rather than the reverse
situation.