Psychology
The acquisition of non-agent subjects in child Hebrew: The role of input
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The present study examines the role of input in the acquisition of non-agent subjects occurring with change-of-state (COS) verbs in child Hebrew. Data for the study derive from naturalistic longitudinal speech samples of two Hebrew-speaking girls Smadar (l;6-2;4) and Lior (l;5-2;9) and their mothers (Berman & Weissenborn 1991). The findings reveal that both the mothers and their daughters start out with a small number of COS verbs and subject types, and gradually expand their inventory to include more verbs, subject types and variations of [subject + verb] clusters. Thus, the development of non-agent subjects points to a gradual emergence of SUBJECT. The findings further suggest that in the acquisition process children rely on semantic and pragmatic information as well as on parental input. These findings are in line with a developmental, usage-based, approach to language acquisition.
Publication Title
Frequency Effects in Language Acquisition: Defining the Limits of Frequency as an Explanatory Concept
Publication Date
5-3-2011
First Page
117
Last Page
144
ISBN
9783110196719
DOI
10.1515/9783110977905.117
Repository Citation
Uziel-Karl, Sigal and Budwig, Nancy, "The acquisition of non-agent subjects in child Hebrew: The role of input" (2011). Psychology. 185.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_psychology/185