Vocabulary of Toddlers Who Are Late Talkers

The purpose of this study was to understand vocabulary characteristics in toddlers who are late talkers (LT) as compared with age-matched (AM) and vocabulary-matched (VM) peers. The semantic categories (e.g., animals, foods, toys) and the percentage of nouns, verbs, and closed-class words in the vocabularies of 36 toddlers (12 LT, 12 AM, 12 VM) were examined. Results indicated that the semantic categories present in the vocabularies of toddlers who were LT were similar to those of VM peers but not of AM peers. Nouns represented the largest word class in all participant groups, but the percentage of nouns in the vocabularies of toddlers who were LT was less than the percentage of nouns in the vocabularies of AM and VM peers. These findings indicate that the vocabularies of toddlers who are LT may be atypical, rather than delayed. Clinical application and potential intervention strategies are discussed.