holophrastic language

Holophrastic language refers to the stage in early speech development when a single word or sound conveys an entire idea or sentence. For example, a child might say "milk" to mean "I want milk" or "That's milk." During this phase, children use individual words as complete messages, relying on context and tone to express their meaning. It reflects how young learners communicate complex thoughts with simple words before developing the ability to form more complex sentences. This stage is a natural part of language acquisition and illustrates early cognitive and linguistic growth.