The term semantics refers to linguistic meaning. Semantic development involves mapping linguistic forms onto our mental models of the world and organizing these maps into networks of related information. Semantic processing involves the comprehension and production of meaning as conveyed by linguistic forms, their combinations, and the nonlinguistic contexts in which they occur.

In this article, semantic development in selected populations of children with language disorders is described via intralinguistic referencing. Included are summaries of deficits in semantic processing that characterize each population as a whole, at early and later points in development.