Chapter 10. Vietnamese children’s interpretation of definite noun phrases
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Ni-La Lê
Abstract
Most work on the acquisition of definiteness examines languages with definite determiners and grammaticalised number, and finds slower acquisition of definiteness compared to number. We replicate an act-out task from Munn et al. (2006) testing comprehension of definites in Vietnamese – a language with neither of these characteristics. In contrast to the results from English and Spanish children, Vietnamese children are found to make few definiteness errors, instead struggling with number, casting doubt on a universal difficulty with definiteness. We argue that this difference stems from the way in which children integrate information from number and definiteness. Given a high level of task difficulty, children acquiring languages with definite determiners and grammatical number, such as English and Spanish, sacrifice definiteness in favour of number, while those acquiring Vietnamese prioritise definiteness, resulting in number errors.
Abstract
Most work on the acquisition of definiteness examines languages with definite determiners and grammaticalised number, and finds slower acquisition of definiteness compared to number. We replicate an act-out task from Munn et al. (2006) testing comprehension of definites in Vietnamese – a language with neither of these characteristics. In contrast to the results from English and Spanish children, Vietnamese children are found to make few definiteness errors, instead struggling with number, casting doubt on a universal difficulty with definiteness. We argue that this difference stems from the way in which children integrate information from number and definiteness. Given a high level of task difficulty, children acquiring languages with definite determiners and grammatical number, such as English and Spanish, sacrifice definiteness in favour of number, while those acquiring Vietnamese prioritise definiteness, resulting in number errors.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Section A. Phonetics and phonology
- Chapter 2. Intonation in southern Vietnamese interrogative sentences 9
- Chapter 3. Vietnamese dialects 31
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Section B. Morphology and syntax
- Chapter 4. A more perfect unification 69
- Chapter 5. Illusory islands 81
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Section C. Semantics
- Chapter 6. Temporal reference in Vietnamese 115
- Chapter 7. Semantics of Vietnamese đã 141
- Chapter 8. (In)definiteness of Vietnamese noun phrases 155
- Chapter 9. Scalar implicatures and the semantics of wh- indefinites in Vietnamese 181
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Section D. Language aquisition and use
- Chapter 10. Vietnamese children’s interpretation of definite noun phrases 215
- Chapter 11. Interpretation of numerals under memory load by Vietnamese speakers 241
- Chapter 12. Gender in Vietnamese 253
- Chapter 13. Effects of grammatical roles and parallelism on referential form production in Vietnamese spoken and written narratives 275
- Index 301
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Section A. Phonetics and phonology
- Chapter 2. Intonation in southern Vietnamese interrogative sentences 9
- Chapter 3. Vietnamese dialects 31
-
Section B. Morphology and syntax
- Chapter 4. A more perfect unification 69
- Chapter 5. Illusory islands 81
-
Section C. Semantics
- Chapter 6. Temporal reference in Vietnamese 115
- Chapter 7. Semantics of Vietnamese đã 141
- Chapter 8. (In)definiteness of Vietnamese noun phrases 155
- Chapter 9. Scalar implicatures and the semantics of wh- indefinites in Vietnamese 181
-
Section D. Language aquisition and use
- Chapter 10. Vietnamese children’s interpretation of definite noun phrases 215
- Chapter 11. Interpretation of numerals under memory load by Vietnamese speakers 241
- Chapter 12. Gender in Vietnamese 253
- Chapter 13. Effects of grammatical roles and parallelism on referential form production in Vietnamese spoken and written narratives 275
- Index 301
