On the acquisition of ambiguous Valency-Marking Morphemes
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Isabelle Barrière
Abstract
A modified version of the Maturation Hypothesis that considers the maturation of chains, the impact of ambiguity on acquisition and the use of overt and systematic morphological cues by children is shown to account for the acquisition findings reported on English, Hebrew, Inuktitut, Kiche, Russian and Sesotho. The Barriere Version of the Maturation hypothesis enables us to predict: (a) the order of acquisition of different SE-constructions (including reflexive, reciprocal, anticausative and middle-passive), (b) the order of acquisition of SE and related (short and long) passive constructions and (c) the manifestations of the overgeneralization of argument structure alternation by French-speaking children. These predictions are born out by the analysis of speech production and experimental data collected on 200 children.
Abstract
A modified version of the Maturation Hypothesis that considers the maturation of chains, the impact of ambiguity on acquisition and the use of overt and systematic morphological cues by children is shown to account for the acquisition findings reported on English, Hebrew, Inuktitut, Kiche, Russian and Sesotho. The Barriere Version of the Maturation hypothesis enables us to predict: (a) the order of acquisition of different SE-constructions (including reflexive, reciprocal, anticausative and middle-passive), (b) the order of acquisition of SE and related (short and long) passive constructions and (c) the manifestations of the overgeneralization of argument structure alternation by French-speaking children. These predictions are born out by the analysis of speech production and experimental data collected on 200 children.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The acquisition of syntax in Romance languages ix
- The production of SE and SELF anaphors in Spanish and Dutch children 3
- On the acquisition of ambiguous Valency-Marking Morphemes 23
- Definite and bare noun contrasts in child Catalan 51
- Null arguments in monolingual children 69
- Prenominal elements in French-Germanic bilingual first language acquisition 95
- A cross-sectional study on the use of “be” in early Italian 117
- Patterns of copula omission in Italian child language 135
- Looking for the universal core of the RI stage 159
- The acquisition of experiencers in Spanish L1 and the external argument requirement hypothesis 183
- Early operators and late topic-drop/pro-drop 203
- The acquisition of A- and A’-bound pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese 227
- Acquiring long-distance wh-questions in L1 Spanish 251
- Evidence from L1 acquisition for the syntax of wh -scope marking in French * 289
- Acquisition of focus marking in European Portuguese 319
- Subject pronouns in bilinguals 331
- Is the semantics/syntax interface vulnerable in l2 acquisition? 353
- The development of the syntax-information structure interface 371
- Beyond the syntax of the Null Subject Parameter 401
- Index 419
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- The acquisition of syntax in Romance languages ix
- The production of SE and SELF anaphors in Spanish and Dutch children 3
- On the acquisition of ambiguous Valency-Marking Morphemes 23
- Definite and bare noun contrasts in child Catalan 51
- Null arguments in monolingual children 69
- Prenominal elements in French-Germanic bilingual first language acquisition 95
- A cross-sectional study on the use of “be” in early Italian 117
- Patterns of copula omission in Italian child language 135
- Looking for the universal core of the RI stage 159
- The acquisition of experiencers in Spanish L1 and the external argument requirement hypothesis 183
- Early operators and late topic-drop/pro-drop 203
- The acquisition of A- and A’-bound pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese 227
- Acquiring long-distance wh-questions in L1 Spanish 251
- Evidence from L1 acquisition for the syntax of wh -scope marking in French * 289
- Acquisition of focus marking in European Portuguese 319
- Subject pronouns in bilinguals 331
- Is the semantics/syntax interface vulnerable in l2 acquisition? 353
- The development of the syntax-information structure interface 371
- Beyond the syntax of the Null Subject Parameter 401
- Index 419
