Early development of body parts vocabulary in Serbian: parent report data

Abstract

The human body has a special status during the child's development because through the body she learns about the world around her, but the body itself is also an object of the child’s experience. Words that refer to body parts are among the first words in children’s vocabulary, yet there are few studies on the development of body parts vocabulary. The study aimed to explore the early acquisition of body part terms based on the adapted Serbian version of MacArthur-Bates parent report inventories CDI I (8-18 months) and CDI II (19-30 months) (Anđelković et al., 2017). 22 body parts items were listed in the CDI I inventory, and 28 (6 additional) body parts in the CDI II. In CDI I, 74 parents marked the words their children only comprehend or comprehend and produce. In CDI II, another group of 73 parents marked only the words their children produced. The mean number of comprehended words for children aged 8–18 months was 5.9 (SD = 5.7, range 0–19), but 24% of children did not understand any body part word. The mean number of words comprehended and produced was 1.3 (SD = 3.8, range 0-19), but 83% of children did not produce any body part word. To follow more precisely developmental trends, children were grouped into four age categories: 8-9, 10-12, 13-15 and 16-18 months. Analysis of variance revealed that the average number of comprehended body part words per participant significantly increased with age, F(3, 70) = 17.58, p < .001, ηp 2 = .43. Significant age effect was also obtained for the average number of produced words, F(3, 70) = 6.72, p < .001, ηp 2 = .22. In the sample of children aged 19–30 months, the mean number of words produced was 16.3 (SD = 8.4, range 0-27), but 9% of children did not produce any body part word. This sample was also divided into four age categories: 19-21, 22-24, 25-27 and 28-30 months. Analysis of variance with the average number of produced body parts words per participant significantly increased with age, F(3, 69) = 7.74, p < .001, ηp 2 = .25. As in previous studies, the first comprehended and produced words refer to body parts that are perceptually salient and included in a child’s everyday routines: leg, mouth, tummy, hand, and finger. However, the words less conspicuous from the child's perspective regarding experience and perception were also recorded, which reveals the importance of playful verbal interaction sequences with adults (e.g., head, tooth).