John Benjamins Publishing Company
From opacity to transparency
Abstract
The paper considers Hebrew-acquiring children’s transition from pervasive non-marking to productive command of grammatical systems in three linguistic domains: verb inflection, predicate elaboration, and clause-combining. The first two are examined in longitudinal samples from three children (age-range: 1;4–2;5), the third in an additional database of three children (age-range: 2;0–3;0). The following developmental patterns emerge for all three domains: (1) earliest constructions used by children are non-marked and typically opaque, that is, they lack a clear, unambiguous target; (2) opaque constructions continue to occur even after the emergence of initial productive usages that are restricted to the least specific, most neutral members of each paradigm; and (3) children’s individual preferences for certain types of opaque constructions show consistent patterns across linguistic domains. These cross-domain trends are analyzed in terms of developmental phases (Berman 1986a, 2004; KarmiloffSmith 1986), where the two initial phases in each domain rely largely on favored transitional categories, initially non-marked and subsequently neutrally-marked constructions. This phase-based approach aims at providing a new perspective on the early development of Hebrew grammar, possibly on the path of acquisition of grammatical marking in general.
Abstract
The paper considers Hebrew-acquiring children’s transition from pervasive non-marking to productive command of grammatical systems in three linguistic domains: verb inflection, predicate elaboration, and clause-combining. The first two are examined in longitudinal samples from three children (age-range: 1;4–2;5), the third in an additional database of three children (age-range: 2;0–3;0). The following developmental patterns emerge for all three domains: (1) earliest constructions used by children are non-marked and typically opaque, that is, they lack a clear, unambiguous target; (2) opaque constructions continue to occur even after the emergence of initial productive usages that are restricted to the least specific, most neutral members of each paradigm; and (3) children’s individual preferences for certain types of opaque constructions show consistent patterns across linguistic domains. These cross-domain trends are analyzed in terms of developmental phases (Berman 1986a, 2004; KarmiloffSmith 1986), where the two initial phases in each domain rely largely on favored transitional categories, initially non-marked and subsequently neutrally-marked constructions. This phase-based approach aims at providing a new perspective on the early development of Hebrew grammar, possibly on the path of acquisition of grammatical marking in general.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Transcription and coding conventions ix
- Typology, acquisition, and development 1
- Paths and stages in acquisition of the phonological word in Hebrew 39
- Phonological development in Israeli Hebrew-learning infants and toddlers 69
- Foundations of the early root category 95
- Development of Hebrew derivational morphology from preschool to adolescence 135
- Lexical development in Hebrew 175
- The nature of CDS in Hebrew 201
- From opacity to transparency 225
- Development of intra- and inter-clausal dependency in Hebrew 259
- Expression of temporality in Hebrew narratives written by deaf adolescents 295
- Early development of written language in Hebrew 325
- Metalinguistic awareness in reading Hebrew L2 353
- Author Index 387
- Subject Index 395
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Transcription and coding conventions ix
- Typology, acquisition, and development 1
- Paths and stages in acquisition of the phonological word in Hebrew 39
- Phonological development in Israeli Hebrew-learning infants and toddlers 69
- Foundations of the early root category 95
- Development of Hebrew derivational morphology from preschool to adolescence 135
- Lexical development in Hebrew 175
- The nature of CDS in Hebrew 201
- From opacity to transparency 225
- Development of intra- and inter-clausal dependency in Hebrew 259
- Expression of temporality in Hebrew narratives written by deaf adolescents 295
- Early development of written language in Hebrew 325
- Metalinguistic awareness in reading Hebrew L2 353
- Author Index 387
- Subject Index 395
