Chapter 7. The acquisition of relative clauses in Japanese
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Hiromi Ozeki
Abstract
This chapter discusses the acquisition of relative clauses in Japanese, a language with prenominal modification. It shows that the acquisition process of Japanese relative clauses is very different from that of languages with postnominal relatives, such as English. In regard to structural aspects, the production of relative clauses by Japanese-speaking children is not affected by the grammatical role of the head nouns in relative clauses, suggesting that a Japanese relative clause can be formed by attaching a simple sentence to the head noun regardless of grammatical relations. In regard to semantic-functional aspects, the relative clauses produced by Japanese-speaking children predominantly have stative/attributive predicates, and they have a function of “naming-reference”. I argue that Japanese relative clauses develop continuously from adjectival modification; possible explanations for this include the input that children are exposed to, which reflects typological characteristics of noun modification in Japanese.
Abstract
This chapter discusses the acquisition of relative clauses in Japanese, a language with prenominal modification. It shows that the acquisition process of Japanese relative clauses is very different from that of languages with postnominal relatives, such as English. In regard to structural aspects, the production of relative clauses by Japanese-speaking children is not affected by the grammatical role of the head nouns in relative clauses, suggesting that a Japanese relative clause can be formed by attaching a simple sentence to the head noun regardless of grammatical relations. In regard to semantic-functional aspects, the relative clauses produced by Japanese-speaking children predominantly have stative/attributive predicates, and they have a function of “naming-reference”. I argue that Japanese relative clauses develop continuously from adjectival modification; possible explanations for this include the input that children are exposed to, which reflects typological characteristics of noun modification in Japanese.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction. The acquisition of relative clauses 1
- Chapter 1. Relative clauses 13
- Chapter 2. A connectionist account of the acquisition and processing of relative clauses 39
- Chapter 3. Learning from social interaction 61
- Chapter 4. Relative clause acquisition in Hebrew and the learning of constructions 81
- Chapter 5. Acquisition of relative clauses in Finnish 107
- Chapter 6. Learning to produce Quechua relative clauses 141
- Chapter 7. The acquisition of relative clauses in Japanese 173
- Chapter 8. The acquisition of relative clauses in Cantonese and Mandarin 197
- Chapter 9. Structural priming in comprehension of relative clause sentences 227
- Index 243
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction. The acquisition of relative clauses 1
- Chapter 1. Relative clauses 13
- Chapter 2. A connectionist account of the acquisition and processing of relative clauses 39
- Chapter 3. Learning from social interaction 61
- Chapter 4. Relative clause acquisition in Hebrew and the learning of constructions 81
- Chapter 5. Acquisition of relative clauses in Finnish 107
- Chapter 6. Learning to produce Quechua relative clauses 141
- Chapter 7. The acquisition of relative clauses in Japanese 173
- Chapter 8. The acquisition of relative clauses in Cantonese and Mandarin 197
- Chapter 9. Structural priming in comprehension of relative clause sentences 227
- Index 243
