What best describes telegraphic speech?

What best describes telegraphic speech?

• A. In telegraphic speech, function words are omitted; content words carry meaning, e.g., 'boat on the river'
• B. Telegraphic speech uses full sentences with function words
• C. Telegraphic speech uses complex clauses
• D. Telegraphic speech includes repeated pronouns

Answer: (A)

Telegraphic speech happens when young children strip sentences down to the essential content words and drop the small grammatical elements that people usually use. They rely on nouns and main verbs (and sometimes a necessary preposition) to get the message across, producing short, chunk-like phrases that still carry meaning. For example, saying “boat on river” focuses on the key parts—what the child is talking about and where—without the fillers like articles or auxiliary verbs that adults use. This simplification reflects a developmental stage where children are learning syntax but can still understand and convey core ideas. So the best description is that function words—such as articles and auxiliary verbs—are omitted, while content words carry the meaning. It’s not about using full sentences with all function words, nor about building complex clauses; and telegraphic speech doesn’t center on repeated pronouns.

Telegraphic speech happens when young children strip sentences down to the essential content words and drop the small grammatical elements that people usually use. They rely on nouns and main verbs (and sometimes a necessary preposition) to get the message across, producing short, chunk-like phrases that still carry meaning. For example, saying “boat on river” focuses on the key parts—what the child is talking about and where—without the fillers like articles or auxiliary verbs that adults use. This simplification reflects a developmental stage where children are learning syntax but can still understand and convey core ideas.

So the best description is that function words—such as articles and auxiliary verbs—are omitted, while content words carry the meaning. It’s not about using full sentences with all function words, nor about building complex clauses; and telegraphic speech doesn’t center on repeated pronouns.