Semantic and Pragmatic Meaning in Indonesian Child Utterances

This research aims to classify and analyze semantic and pragmatic meaning in Indonesian child utterances, as a phase of child language acquisition. The data in this study collected by recording a child’s utterances for 15 months, when the child is 12 27 months old. Collected data then classified into pragmatic and semantic meanings. The utterances collected including 4 utterances namely ’Mandi’ (take a bath), ‘Ayam’ (chicken), ’Kucing’ (cat), and ’Cantik’ (beautiful). The results show that pragmatic and semantic meanings found in utterances such as ‘Dudu’-’Mani’-’Mandi’, ‘Ayam’, ‘Hus-hus’-’Memeng’’Kucing’, and ‘Nantik’-’Cantik’. Moreover, the semantic meaning only seen in child’s speech, while pragmatic meaning can be seen from speech and nonverbal. Keywords—child utterances; pragmatic meaning; psycholinguistics; semantic meaning