A child says the phrase "I hungry." This is an example of which of the following?

The phrase "I hungry" exemplifies telegraphic speech, which occurs when a young child communicates using basic words without the use of grammatical elements that are not essential for conveying meaning. In this case, the child omits the verb "am," resulting in a simplified phrase that still conveys the intended message that they are experiencing hunger.

Telegraphic speech typically involves two or three words and focuses on key content words while leaving out function words and morphemes. This stage of language development often happens around the age of two, illustrating how children begin to express their thoughts in a concise and clear manner, much like telegrams that only included the most important information to save on cost.

In contrast, options like habituation, underextension, and diphthong involve different aspects of language and cognitive development. Habituation refers to a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, underextension occurs when a child applies a word too narrowly to a specific instance rather than to its broader category, and a diphthong is a complex vowel sound that begins with one vowel sound and glides into another within the same syllable. Therefore, the phrase "I hungry" fittingly aligns with the characteristics of telegraphic speech.