What counts as a first word?

It's an exciting time when children start to say their first words! For Analytic Language Processors (word babies), they initially babble, maybe use jargon, and then eventually produce their first word(s). Sometimes it's obvious when a child says one of their first words, and other times, it may be unclear. As speech therapists, we use a set of criteria to guide us when determining if a child is using a "true word" or not. Here is what we look for to determine if a child is producing a true word:

• Consistency: To be considered a word, a child needs to use it regularly and more than once. If a child says a word one time, we would not yet consider that a true word.

• Spontaneous/Independently: True words are generated by the child on their own, rather than being imitated or repeated after someone else around then shares the word. 

• Intentional: The child used the word because they know what the word means and use it in the right context.

So now that we know what the criteria are for being a "true word," here are some categories of words that are sometimes mistakenly not counted toward a child's word count:

• Animal Sounds: moo, baa, etc. all count as words. They're sometimes easier to produce than the animal name itself and are fun to say!

• Sound effects: boom, beep beep, etc. are true words. They often start with early development sounds and are fun to say during play!

• Word Approximations: saying ba for ball or mo for more is a word approximation and if it meets the above criteria, we consider it a word

• Exclamatory Words: wow, yay are true words and may be paired with gestures, sign language, or big facial expressions!

What are some common first words you may expect from your child? Here are 15 frequent initial words: 

mama, dada/papa, up, go, woof, no, yea/yes, uh oh, hi, bye, boo, ball, more, bubble, beep

Check out our Instagram @speech.language.play.nyc where we post information about early language development and more! And if you're looking for toys to use with your young child who's learning first words, here are some of our favs! We are happy to support your family if you have questions about your child's language development. Reach out today!