Mar 04 2025 7 mins
Language is the words we use and how we use them to communicate and share ideas. Effective language development is critical for a child’s development because language helps us learn, communicate, and socialize.
Typically, we divide language into three categories: pragmatic language, expressive language, and receptive language. However, there are actually 5 domains of language and 3 components of language.
The 5 domains of language are phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.
- Phonology is the sounds and patterns of sounds in a language. [think: articulation, phonological processes, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, etc.]
- Morphology is the study of rules that govern how morphemes are used in a language. Morphemes are the smallest grammatical unit of language that has meaning. There are two types of morphemes: free morphemes or morphemes that can stand alone [dog, run, happy] and Bound morphemes or morphemes that cannot function as independent words and must be attached to another morpheme [prefixes, suffixes, word endings]
- Semantics is the linguistic representation and relationship between objects, ideas, feelings, and events. The meaning of words and combination of words in a language.
Semantics includes: vocabulary- expressing ideas about objects or actions, relationships between objects, expressing by using a word, expressing by using a group of words.- *Side note: children with Specific language impairment or Gestalt language processing have difficulty analyzing semantic information.
- Syntax is the rules and ways words combine to form sentences. Syntax includes grammar and differs across language and age groups. Toddler's syntax is much different than adult syntax. Syntax also includes sentences that are not grammatically incorrect, but, we still understand [I want to hold that, me hold dat].
- Pragmatics are the rules for language in conversation and social situations. Pragmatics is knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say it based on a situation or context.
The components of language help us understand how the domains of language work together to form meaningful communication. 3 components of language are: form, content, and use.
- Form is as it sounds; it includes the structure of language. Phonology, morphology, and syntax fall under the component of form.
- Content is expressing ideas about objects and actions, aka, semantics.
- Use is how we combine words and sentences for social interactions and conversational speech.
As you can imagine, effective language and communication require a combination of form, content, and use.
The speaker thinks of something to say and how to say it then puts the words into a sentence based on the scenario or situation.
Understanding these 5 domains of language and 3 components of language isn’t just a grad school thing—it’s the foundation of everything we do to communicate!
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