The statement is True, as children indeed start their syntax acquisition with single-word utterances. Initially, they use nouns and simple verbs to express their needs. This forms the basis for later, more complex sentence structures.
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The statement is True .
Children begin their language development with a stage often referred to as the "one-word" or "holophrastic" stage. During this period, which generally occurs around the age of 12 to 18 months, children use single words to represent whole sentences or complex thoughts. For example, they might say "milk" to mean "I want milk." These words often include nouns like "dog," "ball," and "milk," as well as verbs like "go" or "eat."
This stage marks the beginning of syntax acquisition because it is the child's first step in learning how to communicate ideas using language. Although these are single words, they act as precursors to more complex language structures as children start to understand and use syntax in multi-word utterances later on. As children grow older, they begin to combine words into simple sentences, progressively mastering more complex grammatical constructions.
Understanding the process of how children acquire syntax is important for fields such as linguistics, psychology, and education as it provides insights into cognitive development and the nature of language learning. Researchers have studied this area extensively to determine patterns and typical timelines in child language acquisition.