Interpretation and Construction of Meaning of Bliss-words in Children

Abstract

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.

Keywords::

• Blissymbolics
• Augmentative and alternative communication
• Graphic symbols
• Language development
• Word-formation

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the participants on the course on Blissymbolics 2011, Uppsala University, during which this project was designed and data were collected and discussed: Sabina Alkass, Marita Andersson, Marita Axelsson, Hanna Bergström, Amelie Grape, Åsa Lindqvist, Anna Lindström, Therese Mattsson, Maria Nolemo, Annika Olsson, Rigmor Parsmo, Maja Torstensson, Margareta Wallmark, and Elin Winbladh.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Supplementary material available online

Supplementary Appendix to be found online at http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/07434618.2015.1036117