Telegraphic speech emerges around 18–24 months. Which description best characterizes it?

Telegraphic speech emerges around 18–24 months. Which description best characterizes it?

• A. 12–18 months; holophrase
• B. 6–10 months; canonical babbling
• C. 9–12 months; variegated babbling
• D. ~18–24 months; 2–3 word utterances with content words only, omitting function words

Answer: (D)

Telegraphic speech reflects a stage when toddlers combine a couple of content words to express a meaning, while leaving out the small, glue words that carry grammar. Around 18–24 months, you’ll hear two- to three-word utterances like “mommy eat,” “doggy go,” or “more juice.” The focus is on the words that carry the main content—nouns, verbs, and adjectives—so the message is clear even though function words (the, is, to, and) and inflections aren’t used yet. This mirrors growing grammar: vocabulary is expanding, but the full sentence structure isn’t fully mastered, so speech is efficient and telegraph-like. Earlier stages you might have seen include holophrase, where one word stands for a whole idea or sentence, such as “up” meaning “pick me up.” And before that, the sounds of speech are more about babbling: canonical babbling (repeating syllables like ba-ba) and variegated babbling (different syllables without real words). Telegraphic speech marks a shift from sound play toward meaningful combination of words, with basic but essential meaning carried by the content words.

Telegraphic speech reflects a stage when toddlers combine a couple of content words to express a meaning, while leaving out the small, glue words that carry grammar. Around 18–24 months, you’ll hear two- to three-word utterances like “mommy eat,” “doggy go,” or “more juice.” The focus is on the words that carry the main content—nouns, verbs, and adjectives—so the message is clear even though function words (the, is, to, and) and inflections aren’t used yet. This mirrors growing grammar: vocabulary is expanding, but the full sentence structure isn’t fully mastered, so speech is efficient and telegraph-like.

Earlier stages you might have seen include holophrase, where one word stands for a whole idea or sentence, such as “up” meaning “pick me up.” And before that, the sounds of speech are more about babbling: canonical babbling (repeating syllables like ba-ba) and variegated babbling (different syllables without real words). Telegraphic speech marks a shift from sound play toward meaningful combination of words, with basic but essential meaning carried by the content words.