前语言儿童是如何习得词语语义的呢?一些认知科学家试图从前语言儿童心理理论与语言能力发展之间的关系的角度出发，解释这一惊人的词语语义习得过程，但目前，这一研究领域可供参考的相关综述却几乎是寥寥无几。文章综述了有关前语言儿童心理理论发展对其词语习得影响的理论及实证研究，并结合批评观点进行辩证分析。其首先介绍并界定核心概念，包括词语习得及心理理论。然后，文章大致地介绍了这一领域的研究方法，并重点讨论支持、批判心理理论影响词语习得的现有研究。接着文章提出，若以 Tomase11o's(2003)的语言获得建构理论(usage-based theory of language acquisition)为理论框架讨论既有研究或开展新研究，将获得不错的收获。最后，文章辩证地讨论 了这一领域的研究现状，指出不足之处及对将来研究的启示。

What pave prelinguistic infants'path to word meaning?Currently some researchers in cognitive sciences seek to explain prelinguistic infants'fast acquisition of word meaning through the development of Theory of Mind (or ToM), a popular concept first proposed by Premack and Woodruff (1978), but updated reviews on this issue are relatively limited. This paper is, hence,aimed at presenting selected theoretical and empirical researches that will help to sketch the current state of knowledge on the role of theory of mind in prelinguistic infants' word learning course. It begins with a clear introduction and definition of key concepts, including those of word learning and theory of mind. Then it focuses on current researches both for and against the influence of ToM on word meaning learning in early infancy, along with a general sketch of research methodology and evidences for domain-general abilities as foundation. The paper argues that Tomasello's (2003)usage-based theory of language acquisition (or UBToLA),given its relevance and enlightening views, should be a sound framework for previous and further researches on this topic. In the last section, this paper points out current limitations in this academic domain and in this review as well, based upon a critical discussion, and in turn suggests some implications for future researches.