Jean Aitchison

Professor of Language and Communication in University of Oxford

She identified 3 stages of how children develop links between words and meanings: labelling packaging network building

Labelling: associating a sound/utterance with an object. E.g applying cat to a particular animal Packaging: exploring the extent of the label E.g a cat isnt the same as a snail or fish. This is when most over/under extensions take place.
Network building: Making links between learned words, their similarities, differences and other relatioships. E.g identifying that a lion or tiger is a type of a cat but being able to distinguish them apart.

 Childrens

language doesnt simply require remembering labels and applying them

It involves building mind maps and associating things with each other, being able to use different words in different contexts as a part of developing complex language skills in the future.