Catching heffalumps
-
Wim Zonneveld
Abstract
This paper argues that a seemingly cognitive phenomenon, that of imitation in early child speech (the parroting of a model by the child), when approached in a formal manner, can provide unexpected insight into the nature of the developing grammar. With the help of a large corpus of – in principle – spontaneous speech of a single Dutch speaking child, it shows that it is highly rewarding to make a distinction between child utterances that are apparent direct imitations of a model, and unprompted utterances. A detailed discussion of empirical material illustrating the phenomenon of onset fricative avoidance leads to the conclusion that mere imitation is not just sparroting, but is directly conditioned by the ambient grammar. The framework of Optimality Theory is used to demonstrate how, given a child grammar in which generally speaking markedness constraints precede faithfulness constraints, this finding can be formalised in terms of typically premature high-ranking faithfulness triggered by an imitation context. It is also shown that the formalisation of the analysis in terms of ranked constraints is compatible with independent O.T. theorising about the nature and development of early grammars.
Abstract
This paper argues that a seemingly cognitive phenomenon, that of imitation in early child speech (the parroting of a model by the child), when approached in a formal manner, can provide unexpected insight into the nature of the developing grammar. With the help of a large corpus of – in principle – spontaneous speech of a single Dutch speaking child, it shows that it is highly rewarding to make a distinction between child utterances that are apparent direct imitations of a model, and unprompted utterances. A detailed discussion of empirical material illustrating the phenomenon of onset fricative avoidance leads to the conclusion that mere imitation is not just sparroting, but is directly conditioned by the ambient grammar. The framework of Optimality Theory is used to demonstrate how, given a child grammar in which generally speaking markedness constraints precede faithfulness constraints, this finding can be formalised in terms of typically premature high-ranking faithfulness triggered by an imitation context. It is also shown that the formalisation of the analysis in terms of ranked constraints is compatible with independent O.T. theorising about the nature and development of early grammars.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- The linguistics enterprise 1
- Scope ambiguities through the mirror 11
- Phonetic and phonological approaches to early word recognition 55
- Restructuring head and argument in West-Germanic 79
- Scope assignment in child language 99
- The learnability of A-bar chains 115
- Looking at anaphora 141
- Incremental discourse processing 167
- Theoretical validity and psychological reality of the grammatical code 183
- Monitoring for speech errors has different functions in inner and overt speech 213
- What’s in a quantifier? 235
- Minimal versus not so minimal pronouns 257
- Against partitioned readings of reciprocals 283
- The representation and processing of fixed and compositional expressions 291
- Clitic doubling in Spanish 315
- Metalinguistic processing and acquisition within the MOGUL framework 327
- Catching heffalumps 345
- Index 377
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- The linguistics enterprise 1
- Scope ambiguities through the mirror 11
- Phonetic and phonological approaches to early word recognition 55
- Restructuring head and argument in West-Germanic 79
- Scope assignment in child language 99
- The learnability of A-bar chains 115
- Looking at anaphora 141
- Incremental discourse processing 167
- Theoretical validity and psychological reality of the grammatical code 183
- Monitoring for speech errors has different functions in inner and overt speech 213
- What’s in a quantifier? 235
- Minimal versus not so minimal pronouns 257
- Against partitioned readings of reciprocals 283
- The representation and processing of fixed and compositional expressions 291
- Clitic doubling in Spanish 315
- Metalinguistic processing and acquisition within the MOGUL framework 327
- Catching heffalumps 345
- Index 377
