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)

In 2 experiments, 15- and 21-month-old infants were presented with a target object and asked to select an object taxonomically or thematically related to the target object. The target object was introduced with or without a novel nonsense noun. Results indicated that novel nouns focused infants' attention on taxonomic relations. (MDM)

Selected spontaneous errors of word choice made between the ages of two and five by two children whose language development had been followed longitudinally were analyzed for clues to semantic developmnet. (JMB)

Results suggest that children acquire speech registers concurrently with language and that the progression of acquisition varies more for registers than for grammatical forms. (Author)

Study offers some evidence which bears on the amount of influence of the environment upon linguistic capacity. (Author)