The purpose of this study was to understand vocabulary characteristics in toddlers who are late talkers (LT) as compared with age-matched (AM) and vocabulary-matched (VM) peers. The semantic categories (e.g., animals, foods, toys) and the percentage of nouns, verbs, and closed-class words in the vocabularies of 36 toddlers (12 LT, 12 AM, 12 VM)…

This article addresses the acquisition of meaning of words and phrases that refer to aspects of the world that are not directly perceivable. It examines the patterns of semantic input that are available in the linguistic environment that provide clues to allow a child to construct a lexicon that is both broad and deep. These patterns are…