Data from four recent language studies are examined to explore issues in concept-word relationships. Issues considered include: lexical development, bases of application, single-word functions, semantic domains, categorizing through naming, and concept matching as a model of word learning. (JMB)

Argues that inferring the intension (meaning) of children's words solely from the words' extension (referential scope) is problematic and describes two studies of the intension of children's words which involve a different approach. (JMB)

Reviews some of the principal phenomena that have been found to characterize the acquisition of word meaning during the first two years of life, and proposes a theoretical framework which can be used to interpret these phenomena. (MP)

A review of studies on children's syntactic development in Spanish focused on their use of subordinate clauses within complex sentences. Results suggested that, although they made some developmental gains from 2 years of age, 10-year-olds had not acquired the full range of semantic and syntactic expression characteristic of adult use of…

Challenges the position of Clark (1988) that no two forms in a language can mean the same thing. An alternative is offered that draws on the drive towards the adult system, development of nonlinguistic concepts, acquisition of language in context, and use of a cooperative principle in conversational exchanges. (64 references) (Author/CB)

The spontaneous use of two deictic forms in the speech of Samoan children was examined. Recordings were made of four Samoan children interacting with their families at monthly intervals over a ten-month period. The children were approximately 2 years old at the start of the study. The speech elements examined were the particles signifying…

The form and function of conditional structures in the speech of English speaking children between the ages of 2;6 and 8 years were investigated. Two types of conditionals were distinguished: reality conditionals and unreality conditionals. Data were obtained from audiotapes of the subjects under naturalistic conditions. A five-stage acquisition…

The acquisition of verb meaning is discussed and compared with the acquisition of simple noun meaning. Evidence presented from three experiments with children and adults indicates that (1) verbal meanings are relatively slow to be acquired; (2) the acquisition of verb meaning involves the gradual addition of semantic components; and (3) verbs are…

This paper examines Wittgenstein's conception of a language game. It is contended that there is, as yet, no linguistic science and that a great deal more deep philosophical imagining and "playing" is needed before we have enough knowledge to develop a real science of language. Similarly, superficial and over-literary British…

Assesses whether 30 children aged three-five years had a preferred direction in responding to "when"-questions and whether this preference could be influenced by story structure. Results indicated that children showed a preference for "after"-type responses and that productions of "before" were more likely to be…

Concerns the language development of four children between the ages of 19 and 26 months, as they progressed from single-word utterances to a mean length of utterance of 2.5 morphemes. The observed developmental sequence is described and possible linguistic and cognitive explanations for it are discussed.

Explores the early use of "behind" and "in front of" with large reference objects among 33 children. The patterns for the use of these locatives suggest an acquisition process in which new conceptual resources lead to the re-analysis of object configurations and thus to new aspects of meaning. (SED)

Suggests that the evolutionary process in each child's acquisition of language is a mirror image of the historical evolution of the language. (TO)

Indicates that the variables associated with age not only increase recall performance and chunking but they influence the manner in which semantic and syntactic information in sentences is processed as well. (Author/WY)

Children exhibiting a referential orientation seem more likely to acquire new object names than nonreferentially oriented children. Also, children's selection of words may be influenced by the phonological structure of the words. (Author/RH)