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Ninio, Anat – Journal of Child Language, 1980
Ostensive definitions of words are ambiguities as to their referent. In a study of infant-mother dyads engaged in looking at picture books, 95 percent of ostensive definitions referred to the whole object depicted rather than parts, attributes, or actions. When parts were named, ambiguity was avoided by naming the part and the whole. (PJM)
Descriptors: Ambiguity, Child Language, Cognitive Processes, Language Acquisition