Syntax and Vocabulary of Mothers' Speech to Young Children: Age and Sex Comparisons

Abstract

PHILLIPS, JULIET R. Syntax and Vocabulary of Mothers' Speech to Young Children: Age and Sex Comparisons. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1973, 44, 182-185. This study compared speech addressed to children with speech addressed to an adult; 10 measures of syntax and vocabulary were used. In addition, comparisons were made of speech addressed to children of different ages (8, 18, and 28 months) and sexes. Significant differences between speech addressed to children and speech addressed to an adult were found in all measures. In 7 measures, significant differences were found between speech addressed to 18-month children and speech addressed to 28-month children. In general these findings obtain equally for separate samples of boys and girls.