AAC Language Lab Home » Stages of Language Development
Language Stage 3
At stage three, the person learns to use the smallest units of meaning, called morphemes, to change meaning, such as adding "-ing" to verbs. Phrases and sentences may not sound grammatically correct because helping verbs are not included at this stage. For example, the person might be saying "it go" and then begin to say "it going". A person at stage three begins to use the prepositions "in" and "on" in phrases such as "in box" and "on head". The use of plurals begins at stage three. The mean (average) length of utterance grows to 2.75, with typical phrases ranging from two to three words.
| Approx. Vocab. Size | Utterance Length in Morphemes* | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 200 to 1,000 words | Range: 2.5 to 3.0 Mean: 2.75 |
Mom coming in, Dad helping, Man riding, Look it going, My cars |
*a morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language
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