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Offline *happy*

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what "counts" as a word?
« on: August 30, 2013, 20:17:13 pm »
just curious really!!!! ;)
DD is due her developmental check soon & i know we'll be asked about her language.
her receptive language is very good, & i *think* her expressive language is too.....
she has over 150 words that we can think of...but i'm not sure if we are counting properly, kwim?
like she will say "blub-blub" for butterfly, or "blaaa" for black...so i understand her perfectly, but a stranger might not...some of the words are almost perfect, like "blue", but then others are less obvious, like "aw-moe" for lawnmower...
so is it only a "word" if a stranger understands it? and do things like animal noises count? (we do an excellent elephant noise in this house!!! ;D)
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Offline Khalam's Mama

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Re: what "counts" as a word?
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2013, 20:25:41 pm »
I think you count anything that is a consistent sound meaning something so yes even if strangers don't understand. They are often 3 with strangers not understanding. Also yes animal noises count. How old is she? If she had that many words think I would not bother counting any more.
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Offline *happy*

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Re: what "counts" as a word?
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2013, 20:30:50 pm »
she's 19months now...

yes....even with "blub-blub" (butterfly) she only uses it for butterfly, kwim? that's one of the more obscure ones!!!
alot of her words are without the final sound, so she'll say "lie" for light, and "ca" for car etc...
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Offline amayzie

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Re: what "counts" as a word?
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2013, 20:52:44 pm »
yup- they all count! As long as they are using them reasonably consistently! And KM is right- you aren't expecting them to be understood by strangers until 3 years old. And remember kids generalise like crazy- so they might use 'bub-bub' to mean butterfly, but also to mean 'anything that flies'- so for birds, ducks or 'all insects'... Don't worry about word endings missed and sounds said wrong- they are all part of them working it out! At about 19 months you just want them to have a bit of a range of 'words' and using 'words' more than gesutres or just going 'ugh' and pointing. Although you can expect to see plenty of gestures too! Sounds like she's doing well! Remember when you talk about 'language' you are talking about the words and sentences used. 'Speech' refers to the sounds used. At this age the 'speech' is all over the place as they work out how to make their mouths do what they want! But their little brains are ready and raring to go with the 'language' side of things!
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Offline *happy*

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Re: what "counts" as a word?
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2013, 21:03:26 pm »
yes...DD's brain is certainly raring to go!i think she's learning how to "speak" purely so that she can boss us around more!!!she's already doing a pretty good job of it with gestures & the words she has!!!!

you're right though....i'm mixing up speech & language....blame it on baby brain!!!
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Offline creations

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Re: what "counts" as a word?
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2013, 09:29:27 am »
It sounds like your DD might have already been through the language leap my DS went through at 20 months. It was the point where the words became SO many that I couldn't list them any more and sentences started popping out rather than single words.  He'd done a couple of random sentences prior to that but only as one-off oddities.  A lot of our words were animal sounds, vehicle sounds, colours, numbers and letters, as well as actual words said either clearly or not clearly.  I thought I was going to be asked the number of words he knew at the 2 yr dev check but I wasn't asked.

I noticed your DD can say 'lie' for 'light' which I find really interesting because DS still finds 'L' a hard sound to make and I read it was one of the last sounds to develop, great if she has already found her tongue positioning for that letter sound :)  DS still says 'dowwy' for dolly and 'muswin' for muslin.
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Offline *happy*

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Re: what "counts" as a word?
« Reply #6 on: August 31, 2013, 12:26:46 pm »
i think she only figured out the "lie" word so that she can torment us by turning it on & off!!!!a favourite game of hers much to her daddy's dismay(safety aspect!) & joy (he's an electrician & is convinced she'll be one too!!) i didn't know that about the "l" sound though....interesting!we have a chatterbox on our hands then!
funny you mention "dolly"....DD calls it "gaga"....& i have no idea why!!!!that's the word she uses for gran & grandad!!!i'd love to know how her little mind linked the two!
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