language development
Learning to communicate
Language development is the process by which humans acquire the ability to understand and produce language.
In children, this proceeds through predictable stages—babbling, first words, two-word combinations, then increasingly complex sentences.
The term also applies to deliberate efforts to expand a language's vocabulary or standardize its grammar, as when nations develop official languages for education and government: The committee focused on language development for indigenous tongues.
- mothereseInfant-directed speech register
- baby talkSimplified speech for infants
- fluencySmooth linguistic command
- articulationClear vocal expression
- speech soundsUnits of spoken language
phonemes · linguistics · memory · learning · pragmatics · morphemes · word order · babbling · early childhood · prosody · scaffolding · conversation · overgeneralization · cooing · syntax · code-switching · critical period · native speaker
- developmentgrowth, progress, advancement, expansion, improvement
- parentinggentle parenting, child, mom, children, kids
- toddlerstoddler, three-year-old, toddlerhood, terrible twos, first steps
- child developmentbaby, toddler, newborn, infancy, milestones
- literacyliteracy, reading, spelling, alphabet, writing
- language educationbilingual, biliteracy, immersion, literacy skills, reading
language developmentlanguage disorder
Impaired ability to communicate
language impairment · language delay · speech impairment · speech delay · communication disorder
language developmentarrested development
Halted progression before completion