Stage of language acquisition characterized by a child’s use of a single word to convey a full meaning:

• A. One-word stage
• B. Telegraphic stage
• C. Holophrase stage
• D. Babbling stage

Answer: (A)

This question tests understanding of how young children express full meanings with minimal utterances. When a child uses a single word to stand for an entire idea—like saying “milk” to mean “I want milk” or “up” to mean “please pick me up”—the word functions as a complete message. This is often described as a holophrase, and in many discussions this period is labeled the one-word stage because most speech consists of single-word productions that convey whole intentions.

So the best answer is the one-word stage, since it captures the idea that a single word can express a full meaning. As children progress, they begin to combine words in two-word phrases (the telegraphic stage), and earlier still they babble with sounds that aren’t true words.