The transformation of sensorimotor morphemes into words: a case study of the development of ‘more’ and ‘mine’

Abstract

This paper describes, through discussion and illustrative events, an evolving segment of communication during the course of transition of one child's total communication system from the sensorimotor or gestural level at 12 months into the level of use of the adult words more and mine, and their associated multi-morphemic utterances, at 24 months. The descriptive analysis is based on detailed narrative records of the child's vocal and gestural communication, abstracted from videotape recordings of his behaviour in 10 playsessions conducted at regular intervals and under similar conditions, and which included the presence of the mother, peers, other adults, and play materials. The results as presented provide a case study of the evolutionary processes leading up to the acquisition of words and eventually sentences, illustrating as precisely as possible the texture of one of the earliest developmental sequences.