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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–15Cite as

Language Development

  • Living reference work entry
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Synonyms

Language learning; Linguistic development; Verbal communication

Definition

Language development is the process by which children come to understand and produce language to communicate with others, and entails the different components of phonology (sounds of a language), semantics (word meanings), grammar (rules on combining words into sentences), and pragmatics (the norms around communication).

Introduction

Language lies at the heart of humanity. The thousands of words and countless nuanced grammatical rules of language enable people to achieve a depth and breadth of social understanding and communication that is uniquely human. Without language, people would be left to rely on imprecise facial expressions and body movements to guess others’ intentions, states, and emotions. People would be unable to pass along complex information and fully exploit the expertise of others. Language underpins the transmission of knowledge, traditions, expectations, and values across generations...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA

    Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda & Katelyn K. Fletcher

  2. Department of Early Childhood Education/Art Education, Brooklyn College, the City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Lulu Song

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  1. Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda
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  2. Lulu Song
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  3. Katelyn K. Fletcher
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Correspondence to Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda .

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  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

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  1. University of South Carolina - Beaufort, Bluffton, SC, USA

    Carey Fitzgerald

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Tamis-LeMonda, C.S., Song, L., Fletcher, K.K. (2018). Language Development. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_2410-1

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