Interpretation and Construction of Meaning of Bliss-words in Children.

Blissymbolics as a graphic symbol system has the potential to represent a large number of vocabulary items using a small number of basic Bliss-characters. The aim of this project was to investigate how children with typical development, aged 3 years to 7 years 11 months, interpreted Bliss-characters and compound Bliss-words and then constructed their own Bliss-words. Children participated in a teaching procedure that included explanations and feedback on the structure and meaning of Bliss-characters. Their spontaneous interpretations of Bliss-characters and their ability to construct new Bliss-words were explored. Results suggest that Bliss-characters, although not very transparent, evoked spontaneous linguistic activities and were retained after brief explanations. Children aged 5 years and older appeared to discover the logic of the structure of Bliss-words. Children of all ages used Bliss-characters to represent new ideas. Some chose Bliss-characters resembling adult representations of concepts, others chose Bliss-characters representing personal associations. In sum, children retained many of the Bliss-characters after a relatively brief exposure and demonstrated semantic creativity in interpretation and construction of Bliss-words. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]