What phonetic ability begins to develop during the holophrastic stage?

During the holophrastic stage, which typically occurs between 12 to 18 months of age, children start to produce their first words, often using single words to convey entire ideas or sentences. This is a critical phase in language development where phonetic abilities begin to take shape.

The ability to pronounce words recognizably is key during this stage because it reflects the child’s emerging command over sound production and articulation. While they may not always pronounce words perfectly, they start to replicate the sounds and patterns they hear from adults and other speakers. This initial capacity to form intelligible words is foundational for further language acquisition, as it sets the stage for more complex speech and vocabulary development in the following stages.

Other options, such as interpreting tones, reading simple texts, or identifying sounds in isolation, do not specifically align with the primary focus of the holophrastic stage, which centers on the production of recognizable spoken words rather than the understanding of tone or reading skills that are more advanced abilities developed later.