Acquisition of requests in Estonian
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Reili Argus
Abstract
The main objective of the study is to identify the linguistic means that are most frequently employed by Estonian children to express requests and the paths through which they develop. The analysis is based on 25 hours of recorded spontaneous speech of two monolingual Estonian children between the ages 1;3 and 3;0 and their caregivers. All requests in the material were classified according to the type (direct vs. indirect requests such as commands, prohibitions vs. suggestions) at a first level and according to the linguistic means used (such as imperative, modal verbs) at a second level. One of the main results of the study is that rather than clear-cut periods of development there is a continuous order of emergence of different linguistic means children use for forming requests. They start with cognitively and grammatically less complex requests where the source of modality is within the speaker (e.g. commands). Requests with a source of modality external to the speaker (such as statements of desired actions by quoting social norms) are acquired later. The impact of child-directed speech is reflected most clearly in the order of appearance of the first indirect requests in the children’s speech: the most frequent types of indirect requests occurring in child-directed speech, namely appeals for joint action and statements of the addressee’s desired action, emerge first.
Abstract
The main objective of the study is to identify the linguistic means that are most frequently employed by Estonian children to express requests and the paths through which they develop. The analysis is based on 25 hours of recorded spontaneous speech of two monolingual Estonian children between the ages 1;3 and 3;0 and their caregivers. All requests in the material were classified according to the type (direct vs. indirect requests such as commands, prohibitions vs. suggestions) at a first level and according to the linguistic means used (such as imperative, modal verbs) at a second level. One of the main results of the study is that rather than clear-cut periods of development there is a continuous order of emergence of different linguistic means children use for forming requests. They start with cognitively and grammatically less complex requests where the source of modality is within the speaker (e.g. commands). Requests with a source of modality external to the speaker (such as statements of desired actions by quoting social norms) are acquired later. The impact of child-directed speech is reflected most clearly in the order of appearance of the first indirect requests in the children’s speech: the most frequent types of indirect requests occurring in child-directed speech, namely appeals for joint action and statements of the addressee’s desired action, emerge first.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of abbreviations used in the present volume VII
- Studying the acquisition of modality: An introduction 1
- Requests in first language acquisition of German: Evidence from high and low SES families 25
- Gender differences in the acquisition of requests in Lithuanian 79
- Development of directive expressions in Russian adult–child communication 113
- Acquisition of modality in Croatian 159
- Competition of grammatical forms in the expression of directives in early French child speech and child-directed speech 191
- On the acquisition of dynamic, deontic and epistemic uses of modal verbs in Romanian 235
- Development of modality in early Greek language acquisition 255
- Acquisition of requests in Estonian 315
- Directives in Finnish language acquisition 347
- Modality in child Hebrew 379
- Epistemic modality in Russian child language 421
- Epistemic and evidential modality in early Turkish child speech 453
- The development of sentence-ending epistemic/evidential markers in young Korean children 491
- The acquisition of evidentiality in two Mayan languages, Yukatek and Tojolabal 525
- Conclusions 555
- List of Contributors 575
- Subject Index 577
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of abbreviations used in the present volume VII
- Studying the acquisition of modality: An introduction 1
- Requests in first language acquisition of German: Evidence from high and low SES families 25
- Gender differences in the acquisition of requests in Lithuanian 79
- Development of directive expressions in Russian adult–child communication 113
- Acquisition of modality in Croatian 159
- Competition of grammatical forms in the expression of directives in early French child speech and child-directed speech 191
- On the acquisition of dynamic, deontic and epistemic uses of modal verbs in Romanian 235
- Development of modality in early Greek language acquisition 255
- Acquisition of requests in Estonian 315
- Directives in Finnish language acquisition 347
- Modality in child Hebrew 379
- Epistemic modality in Russian child language 421
- Epistemic and evidential modality in early Turkish child speech 453
- The development of sentence-ending epistemic/evidential markers in young Korean children 491
- The acquisition of evidentiality in two Mayan languages, Yukatek and Tojolabal 525
- Conclusions 555
- List of Contributors 575
- Subject Index 577
