Underextension refers to:

Underextension refers to:

• A. Using a word to refer to a more limited set of objects than adults would.
• B. Using a word to refer to a wide range of objects.
• C. Adding affixes to form new words.
• D. Failing to use words at all.

Answer: (A)

Underextension happens when a child uses a word to refer to a smaller set of things than adults would. For example, a child might call only their family dog “dog” and not apply that word to other dogs or dog-like creatures. This shows the child’s meaning for that word is still narrowly defined and hasn’t yet generalized to the full category. If a child used a word to cover a much broader range of objects, that would be overextension, not underextension. Adding affixes to form new words is about morphology, not how broad or narrow a word’s reference is. Failing to use words at all describes a different issue in language development, not the narrowing of a word’s meaning.

Underextension happens when a child uses a word to refer to a smaller set of things than adults would. For example, a child might call only their family dog “dog” and not apply that word to other dogs or dog-like creatures. This shows the child’s meaning for that word is still narrowly defined and hasn’t yet generalized to the full category.

If a child used a word to cover a much broader range of objects, that would be overextension, not underextension. Adding affixes to form new words is about morphology, not how broad or narrow a word’s reference is. Failing to use words at all describes a different issue in language development, not the narrowing of a word’s meaning.