Infant language acquisition

Between 18 months and 2 years the child begins to put 2 words together in what is called 'telegraphic speech'. Although children generally use nouns, verbs and adjectives, they are likely to omit other parts of speech such as articles or prepositions. Therefore the language is not merely a copy of adult language, but creative. Often the 2 word phrases are used to locate and acquire objects for example; 'my ball', to refuse or to negate for instance 'no more', or to question for example 'where's daddy?'. 2 word utterances by children at this age have similar uses across languages.

Between the ages of 2 and 4 years children gradually acquire the ability to use grammar correctly. It is suggested that children go through 4 stages of grammar development. In phase 1 they try but fail. In phase 2 they succeed in memorising some of the irregular verbs, such as broke and went, but do not yet acquire a grammatical rule. In the 3rd phase, children learn general grammatical rules that can be used with new as well as familiar words. Only in the 4th phase, around 7 to 8 years, do children finally approach language that resembles adult usage.