On child subjects in a partially pro -drop language
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Jeannette Schaeffer
Abstract
In this paper we investigate the production of (null) subjects in the spontaneous speech of 15 monolingual children between the ages of 1;09 and 3;01 acquiring Hebrew, a partially pro-drop language. Our results show that all children behave adultlike regarding the pro-drop part of Hebrew. Furthermore, Root Infinitives appear with underspecified subjects (most of them null), and the majority of the finite verbs requiring an overt subject occur correctly with a specified subject as predicted by Hoekstra & Hyams (1995): 67% for the younger children, and 96% for the older children. The 33% unexplained underspecified subjects with finite verbs in the youngest age group are accounted for by the lack of the pragmatic Concept of Non-Shared Assumptions (Schaeffer 1999).
Abstract
In this paper we investigate the production of (null) subjects in the spontaneous speech of 15 monolingual children between the ages of 1;09 and 3;01 acquiring Hebrew, a partially pro-drop language. Our results show that all children behave adultlike regarding the pro-drop part of Hebrew. Furthermore, Root Infinitives appear with underspecified subjects (most of them null), and the majority of the finite verbs requiring an overt subject occur correctly with a specified subject as predicted by Hoekstra & Hyams (1995): 67% for the younger children, and 96% for the older children. The 33% unexplained underspecified subjects with finite verbs in the youngest age group are accounted for by the lack of the pragmatic Concept of Non-Shared Assumptions (Schaeffer 1999).
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement vii
- Current issues in generative Hebrew linguistics 1
-
Part I. The structure of the lexicon
- Morphologically conditioned V-Ø alternation in Hebrew 27
- The special status of nif'al in Hebrew 61
- Object gap constructions 77
- Active lexicon 105
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Part II. Grammatical features and inflectional morphology
- Definiteness agreement with PP modifiers 137
- Predication and equation in Hebrew (nonpseudocleft) copular sentences 161
- Morphological knowledge without morphological structure 197
- The interaction between question formation and verbal morphology in the acquisition of Hebrew 223
- On child subjects in a partially pro -drop language 245
- Resumptive pronouns as a last resort when movement is impaired 267
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Part III. Semantics, pragmatics and discourse
- Bare minimizers 293
- Hebrew negative polarity Items – šum and af 313
- A two-layered analysis of the Hebrew exceptive xuc mi 337
- Codifying apparent inconsistencies in discourse 353
- Index 389
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgement vii
- Current issues in generative Hebrew linguistics 1
-
Part I. The structure of the lexicon
- Morphologically conditioned V-Ø alternation in Hebrew 27
- The special status of nif'al in Hebrew 61
- Object gap constructions 77
- Active lexicon 105
-
Part II. Grammatical features and inflectional morphology
- Definiteness agreement with PP modifiers 137
- Predication and equation in Hebrew (nonpseudocleft) copular sentences 161
- Morphological knowledge without morphological structure 197
- The interaction between question formation and verbal morphology in the acquisition of Hebrew 223
- On child subjects in a partially pro -drop language 245
- Resumptive pronouns as a last resort when movement is impaired 267
-
Part III. Semantics, pragmatics and discourse
- Bare minimizers 293
- Hebrew negative polarity Items – šum and af 313
- A two-layered analysis of the Hebrew exceptive xuc mi 337
- Codifying apparent inconsistencies in discourse 353
- Index 389
