Becoming a social agent requires the ability to gain some power over others’ actions and perceptions. For that purpose, symbolic practices and language matter, especially when physical means of control are unavailable, ineffective, or illegitimate. Based on an in-depth ethnographic study, I analyze such a process of symbolic empowerment from the viewpoint of very young practitioners: children age 2 to 3 years. I explore the symbolic means through which toddlers seek control over adults, from simple signals, naming, and politeness to basic fictionalization. Children’s social backgrounds, not just age and development, inform their tendency to affect adults through words. The content of symbolic practices is determined by preexisting social hierarchies between persons, groups, and institutions. In fact, the crucial challenge for young children is to take advantage of these hierarchies by publicly putting them in line with their own emerging interests.

成为社会代理人需要有能力对他人的行为和看法获得一些权力。为此，象征性实践和语言很重要，尤其是当物理控制手段不可用、无效或非法时。基于深入的民族志研究，我从非常年轻的实践者的角度分析了这样一个象征性授权的过程：2 到 3 岁的儿童。我探索了幼儿寻求控制成年人的象征手段，从简单的信号、命名和礼貌到基本的虚构。儿童的社会背景，而不仅仅是年龄和发育，会影响他们通过语言影响成人的倾向。符号实践的内容是由个人、群体和机构之间预先存在的社会等级决定的。实际上，