Final answer:
The transition from babbling to first words in infants generally starts with repeated syllables and by around 12 months evolves into meaningful words, often related to familiar objects. Gesture usage is a key predictor of language development. This period is marked by increasing phoneme discrimination, vocabulary growth, and the ability to understand and follow simple commands.
Step-by-step explanation:
The transition from babbling to the first words in infants involves a complex interplay of cognitive, motor, and perceptual skills. After the initial few months, infants start producing repeated syllables devoid of meaning. However, by around 12 months, infants begin to utter their first meaningful words and start to combine words around 18 months, signaling the onset of language development. The transition includes the appearance of first words between the ages of 12 to 18 months, with these early words often representing familiar objects and events. Gesture usage also plays a critical role as it predicts subsequent language development and is an essential component of this transition phase.Another key characteristic is their ability to discriminate phonemes—the basic sound units of language. Initially, infants can distinguish between the phonemes of all languages, but around 1 year old, this ability narrows to the phonemes of their environment's languages. This period also sees the development of fine motor skills, where one-year-olds use simple words and gestures, understand several other words, and can start obeying simple commands intertwined with gestures. By the age of 2 years, a toddler typically uses an expanding vocabulary, ranging from 50 to 200 words, displaying increasing comprehension and expression capabilities.Throughout this time, babies show increased sensitivity to the sounds and gestures of the languages around them. They begin to make sense of the world through these sounds and gestures, an essential foundation for the subsequent language acquisition process. As they approach their second year, toddlers exhibit significant growth in vocabulary and language complexity, laying the groundwork for robust language skills later in life.