As a child’s communication becomes more directed and specific, parents frequently find themselves with questions about their child’s growing expressive skills, and a question I am asked frequently is ‘What counts as a word?’
‘Does it count if I am the only person who understands the word?’ – Yes
‘Does it count if my child only says the first sound?’ – Yes
Does it count if my child uses a sign, but doesn’t make a sound?’ – Yes
What if my child says ‘hi’ and ‘¡Hola!,’ how many words does that count as? – Two
It can be puzzling to measure a child’s growing vocabulary; so let’s clear up the confusion!
What Counts as a Word?
- Actual words: “mama,” “baby”
- Word Approximations: “bu” for book, “ka” for car
- Animal Sounds: “moo,” “woof-woof”
- Environmental Noises: “vroom,” “beep-beep”
- Makaton & Baby Signs
- Song Gestures: spinning hands for ‘Wind the Bobbin Up,’ rocking back and forth for ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’
How Do I Know it Really is a Word?
To count as a word, your child needs to use it:
- Independently (without prompting)
- Consistently (more than once to mean the same thing)
- With Meaning
How Many Words Should My Child Have?1
- 12 months: 1 to 6 words
- 18 months: 10 to 50 words
- 24 months: 50 to 300 words
- 30 months: 200 to 450 words
- 36 months: 250 to 1,000 words
If you would like more information about children’s language development or speech and language therapy with South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy, please get in touch. Follow us on Facebook for more speech, language and feeding tips and sign up for South Lakes Speech & Language Therapy’s newsletter if you would like new posts sent directly to your inbox.
- Nicolosi, Harryman, Kresheck (2006) Owens (1996) Rescorla (1989) ↩︎