John Benjamins Publishing Company
Some notes on the syntax–pragmatics interface in bilingual children
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Natascha Müller
Abstract
The present article investigates finite verb placement in German subordinate clauses. It will argue that there is cross-linguistic influence in the case of bilingual German-French and German-Italian children. The children use a Romance syntactic derivation for German finite subordinate clauses which is based on an analysis of Romance infinitival clauses in which the prepositional complementizers enter the derivation above the VP, and not as sister to the IP they are associated with. The relation between complementizer and IP is expressed by movement of the IP from within the VP to the specifier position of the complementizer. The generalization of this type of derivation to all kinds of complementizers is enforced by the existence of constructions in the German input of the children which are compatible with this kind of analysis. The result of the child analysis is root word order in German subordinate clauses. We will argue that the children chose the Romance analysis since it minimizes the interaction between syntax and pragmatics.
Abstract
The present article investigates finite verb placement in German subordinate clauses. It will argue that there is cross-linguistic influence in the case of bilingual German-French and German-Italian children. The children use a Romance syntactic derivation for German finite subordinate clauses which is based on an analysis of Romance infinitival clauses in which the prepositional complementizers enter the derivation above the VP, and not as sister to the IP they are associated with. The relation between complementizer and IP is expressed by movement of the IP from within the VP to the specifier position of the complementizer. The generalization of this type of derivation to all kinds of complementizers is enforced by the existence of constructions in the German input of the children which are compatible with this kind of analysis. The result of the child analysis is root word order in German subordinate clauses. We will argue that the children chose the Romance analysis since it minimizes the interaction between syntax and pragmatics.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Connectivity as an object of linguistics 1
-
Aspects of language change and language acquisition
- Grammaticalization of converb constructions 21
- Contact, connectivity and language evolution 51
- Allora 75
- Some notes on the syntax–pragmatics interface in bilingual children 101
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Pronouns, topics and subjects
- Distribution and function of clitic object pronouns in popular16th-18th century Greek narratives 139
- Nominative subjects of non-finite clauses in Hiberno-English 165
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Finiteness in text and discourse
- Aspectotemporal connectivity in Turkic 187
- Connectivity by means of finite elements in monolingual and bilingual Turkish discourse 199
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Subordination – coordination
- Alternative subordination strategies in Turkish 231
- Studying connectivity with the help of computer-readable corpora 259
- Discourse coordination in Turkish monolingual and Turkish-German bilingual children’s talk: işte 291
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Adverbials, particles and constructions
- Modal adverbs as discourse markers 329
- „So, given this common theme...“ 345
- An utterance-transcending connector 367
- Between connectivity and modality 395
- Matrix constructions 419
- Language index 449
- Name index 451
- Subject index 457
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Connectivity as an object of linguistics 1
-
Aspects of language change and language acquisition
- Grammaticalization of converb constructions 21
- Contact, connectivity and language evolution 51
- Allora 75
- Some notes on the syntax–pragmatics interface in bilingual children 101
-
Pronouns, topics and subjects
- Distribution and function of clitic object pronouns in popular16th-18th century Greek narratives 139
- Nominative subjects of non-finite clauses in Hiberno-English 165
-
Finiteness in text and discourse
- Aspectotemporal connectivity in Turkic 187
- Connectivity by means of finite elements in monolingual and bilingual Turkish discourse 199
-
Subordination – coordination
- Alternative subordination strategies in Turkish 231
- Studying connectivity with the help of computer-readable corpora 259
- Discourse coordination in Turkish monolingual and Turkish-German bilingual children’s talk: işte 291
-
Adverbials, particles and constructions
- Modal adverbs as discourse markers 329
- „So, given this common theme...“ 345
- An utterance-transcending connector 367
- Between connectivity and modality 395
- Matrix constructions 419
- Language index 449
- Name index 451
- Subject index 457
