You are here: Home > Developmental Timeline > Begins to imitate spoken words
About this Post
- Age range: 10 to 14 months
- Developmental pillar:
- Physical and Brain Development
- Social and Emotional Development
- Learning and Cognitive Development
- Communication and Language Development
- Physical and Brain Development: How children develop
- Social and Emotional Development: How children feel and connect
- Learning and Cognitive Development: How children think and learn
- Communication and Language Development: How children communicate
At 10 months, some infants will begin to repeat back words they hear, although they may not yet know that these words have any particular meaning. They may not repeat these words completely or accurately, because many sounds are difficult to make for children at this age. For example, "hat" may be spoken as "ha" without the final "t" sound. By 17 to 21 months, verbal imitation is much stronger and more frequent than physical imitation (copying actions they see).
References
- Masur, E. (1993). Transitions in representational ability: Infants' verbal, vocal, and action imitations during the second year. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 39, 437