Evidence of semantically based orderings of phrasal coordinations in child speech is explored. Speech samples from two children are analyzed to show that such sequences occur frequently, are internally consistent, and are part of children's active repertoire of referential and expressive acts at an early age. The samples were obtained from one child between the ages of 18 to 27 months and another between 36 to 41 months. The evidence suggests that early in child speech, word order in coordination lends itself to iconization of several types of semantic distinctions. Children acquire a principle which states that a preferred ordering exists for semantically distinct constituents of phrasal coordinations. Further, such an ordering iconically encodes the subjective primacy of one referent by placing it first in the coordination. The need for longitudinal data on spontaneous speech accompanied by information on gestures, focus of attention, and parents' speech is cited. (RW)