Telegraphic speech is best described as which of the following?

Telegraphic speech is best described as which of the following?

• A. Short utterances that omit function words and rely on content words.
• B. Long, grammatical sentences with complex morphology.
• C. Use of only nouns without verbs.
• D. Exclusive use of telegraph words and transcriptions.

Answer: (A)

In telegraphic speech, communication is reduced to the essentials: children use short utterances that drop function words and rely mainly on content words like nouns and verbs. They convey meaning with the key semantic words while articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and endings are omitted, making the speech resemble a telegram. This happens because young children are still mastering grammar, so they prioritize enough words to get their message across, e.g., “Mommy eat” or “doggie go,” where the main ideas are clear even without full syntax. That’s why the described choice is the best fit: it captures the brief, content-word–heavy nature of telegraphic speech. The other options describe more complete, adult-like sentences or incorrect patterns (long sentences with full morphology, or using only nouns, or an odd notion of exclusive “telegraph words”), which don’t reflect how children actually simplify speech at this stage.

In telegraphic speech, communication is reduced to the essentials: children use short utterances that drop function words and rely mainly on content words like nouns and verbs. They convey meaning with the key semantic words while articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and endings are omitted, making the speech resemble a telegram. This happens because young children are still mastering grammar, so they prioritize enough words to get their message across, e.g., “Mommy eat” or “doggie go,” where the main ideas are clear even without full syntax.

That’s why the described choice is the best fit: it captures the brief, content-word–heavy nature of telegraphic speech. The other options describe more complete, adult-like sentences or incorrect patterns (long sentences with full morphology, or using only nouns, or an odd notion of exclusive “telegraph words”), which don’t reflect how children actually simplify speech at this stage.