The use of a metaphorical mode of meaning in early language development

A Critical Review of Consciousness-Raising Approaches: Applied Linguistics vs. Systemic Functional Linguistics

“…Painter (1984Painter ( , 2003 also confirms that the meaning transfer from the protolanguage to the mother tongue is not iconic but dialectic. Similar to Halliday (1975Halliday ( , 1988b, Painter (2003) finds this stage of child language acquisition metaphoric. She explains it by using three observations from her case studies.…”

“…This means that the system network has not developed to the capacity of adult language. Painter (1984Painter ( , 2003 finds similar processes happening at the protolanguage. She also finds that at the early stages of child language development there is no duality or transference of meaning at the content plane.…”

“…The second one is likeness. Painter (2003) observed a two year old child comparing the chopsticks to straws, "they like straws" (p. 156). The third is the playing with meaning to create humour and reflecting on feeling and behaviour.…”

“…The third is the playing with meaning to create humour and reflecting on feeling and behaviour. Painter (1984Painter ( , 2003 discovers that Hal at 16 ½ months begins the semiotic expansion of material world. He puts a leaf on his head and calls it as a hat, which in fact is not a hat but a semiotic representation for something which looks like a hat.…”

“…As such, the system is premature and for every single meaning there has to be "a new sign-expression", which is carried out through vocalization (Painter, 2003, p.152). In spite of the lack of duality to make the meaning-making possible, Painter (2003) believes that "the behaviours have the potentiality of transferring semiotic gesture" into the metaphoric use of language. (p.153) According to Halliday (1975), moving to the mother tongue is accompanied by some dramatic changes in the protolanguage.…”