How do children attach meaning to words?

Answer 1

I'll assume that you do not want a discussion of the structure and functions of the brain or of physiological psychology or of the range of "learning theories," but that you prefer a simple, direct reply.

A recent proposal is that aside from the direct instruction that they receive from others, they do it by means of a form of mind reading -- or mind guessing -- which we would be better off calling "logical inference."

They hear words used in various contexts, and they figure out what the words apply to. They make mistakes and are corrected, and after a while, the concepts of the words are carved out properly.

By the way, that is precisely what a "concept" is: a discovery of the equivalences in the world around us. When a child learns to use, for example, the word "wood" in all its contexts and discovers the equivalences of those contexts that make the word appropriate, then we say that he has learned the "concept" of the word.

Addendum (new author):

By association with other, previously known words and concepts, are new words assimilated. This is the reason dictionaries define words in terms of synonyms, instead of etymologically, along the root derivation of the meaning of the word, giving examples of other words with similar meanings. Certain morphemes and sememes and phonemes are given significance by the young plastic brain, but this not generally the way we teach language.

Words are symbols. What is important is ACTING IN THE WORLD, THE FACTS. The child comes to rely on certain words that have CONSISTENCY as FACTS: Mom is always Mom, Mother, and Mrs. Watson say. The child can use those HANDLES to the FACT of his/her mother's existence RELIABLY and without constant negation or refutation. Thus social confirmation is important in the process, as we all need ACCEPTANCE.

Thus, the same process of ASSOCIATION with other words is very much akin to the process of socialization with other people. The process works per the SECT(ion) of SOCiety the chold belongs to. The child is allocated a share and learns it has responsibilities to earn that share, one of which is LEARNING and another of which is LEARNING BY DOING.

It is the method of TESTING the words via experience that proves their merit to the individual, their truth in relation to each other.

IF + ELSE or IF + ALSO = FALSE. It's just a relegated possibility.

When we use the word "not", we are putting something at a conceptual DISTANCE, beyond current theory or conversation or conception or prioritization. Generally, we start sentences with declarative POSITIVE ASSERTIONS, rather than with NEGATIONS, eg.

"It is NOT SO that the US is at the forefront of spreading democracy!" would NOT usually be what you would hear from a politician's speech, though they might say it in another way, such as, "The US needs to bring its troops home and work on its infrastructure." The latter is a positive declarative statement and one people are more likely to agree with.

"NO!" has the additional disadvantage of first affirming the authority of the one it is declared to, even as it attempts to deny that same authority, as many 3 year ld soon find out.

"Thou shalt not" creates a void, a vacuum, and Nature abhors a vacuum.

Answer 2

Children attach meaning to words through a process called language acquisition, where they learn to associate sounds with objects, actions, and concepts. They do this by hearing words used in context, receiving feedback on their use of language, and making connections between words and the world around them. This process typically begins in infancy and continues throughout childhood as children build their vocabulary and understanding of language.