A Comparative Study of the Speech Development of Japanese and American Children (Part Eight) : Structure and Function of One-word-sentences

Abstract

We recorded the speech sounds of nine Japanese and three American infants in Japan and two American infants in the U.S.A., all of whom were under two years of age. Then we compared the differentiation process of one-word-sentences' structure and function of the three groups. By the time when the infant is eight months of age his mother has become his love object, his significant person. From about eleven or twelve months of age the infant begins to pick up a few of his mother's words. The word corresponds to an object or a situation which he has cognized. The infant begins to use the word as his own. The word is a so-called one-word-sentence. At the beginning of the second year the infant does not use the word differentiatedly either in structure or in function. He utters it either as a one, two, three or more syllable word, or as a mixture with another word. With his whole body he utters it not only to express the object but also without any reference to the object. His expression in speech sounds is also connected with his need. From about the middle of the second year the infant begins to develop his phonemicization-symbolization process and at the same time begins to use his word, one-word-sentence, a little more differentiatedly both in structure and in function. But we do not think that at this stage the infant begins to use his word differ-entiatedly in grammatical function. We can not identify what kind of part of speech it is. This kind of developmental differentiation of his word is based on the develop-mental interrelationship between his cognition of the object-, the situation-rela-tionship and his talking with his parents. As for the process mentioned above we do not find significant differences between the three groups.