International Journal of English Linguistics; Vol. 10, No. 5; 2020

5. Discussions on the Topic

 

5.1 Polysemy and the Operations of Generalization   

Psycholinguistic approach to the comprehension of word studies this process as a complete mechanism realized 

within human intellectual opportunities. The studies on speech ontogenesis reveal that the comprehension of 

word meaning is a complex process comprising several successive stages. The investigations by different 

scientific researchers make evident that the extension of word meaning, distinguishing words with figurative 

meaning and their usage in speech are directly connected with intellectual development of a child. A child first 

comprehends and uses the words only in nominative meaning at the primary stage of development—early years 

of his/her life. Firstly, objects, qualities, characteristics and events are distinguished from one another, this 

results in word meaning differentiating. In subsequent stages of development, a child improves generalizing 

skills. As the conclusion of the review of literature on child speech we may identify three main directions of 

generalization performed by children:   

1)