On the Acquisition of the Indefinite Article

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 121-143
Author(s):  
Martine Coene
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Present Article ◽  
First Language ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Functional Domain ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Functional Categories ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Feature Values

The present article argues that the idea of morphology-driven syntax carries over to first-language acquisition. Morphology encodes properties of functional categories, i.e. particular features and feature values that must be set according to the target (adult) language during the acquisition process. In agreement with previous findings concerning the acquisition of functional categories in the verbal domain, we discuss here some cross-linguistic data with respect to the nominal functional domain. In this respect, specificity can be said to develop stepwise, as the result of the valuation of the /number/ before the /person/ feature of noun phrases, which finds its reflection in the emergence of indefinite articles before definite articles.

Internal motivations and formal approaches

2020 ◽  
pp. 188-221
Author(s):  
Anne Breitbarth ◽  
Christopher Lucas ◽  
David Willis
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
First Language ◽  
Negative Polarity ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Negative Concord ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Creation

This chapter argues that, while the creation of indefinites from generic nouns is grammaticalization in the form of upwards reanalysis from N to R, the quantifier and free-choice cycles do not in fact constitute instances of grammaticalization. Indefinites restricted to stronger negative-polarity contexts are not more functional than indefinites licensed in weaker negative-polarity contexts. Rather, it is argued that implicational semantic features requiring roofing by different types of operators situated in the Q head of indefinites, and in particular the way they are acquired in first language acquisition, are responsible for the diachronic developments. Negative concord items arise through an acquisitional mechanism maximizing the number of agreement relations in the acquired grammar consistent with the primary linguistic data.

Crosslinguistic influence at the syntax–pragmatics interface: Subjects and objects in English–Italian bilingual and monolingual acquisition

2004 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUDOVICA SERRATRICE ◽  
ANTONELLA SORACE ◽  
SANDRA PAOLI
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Bilingual Child ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Object Use ◽  
Syntactic Function ◽  
Discourse Pragmatics ◽  
Crosslinguistic Influence

The findings from a number of recent studies indicate that, even in cases of successful bilingual first language acquisition, the possibility remains of a certain degree of crosslinguistic influence when the choice between syntactic options is affected by discourse pragmatics. In this study we focussed on the use of referring expressions, prime candidates to test the interaction between syntax and pragmatics, and we compared the distribution of subjects and objects in the Italian and English of a bilingual child (1;10–4;6) with that of two groups of MLUw-matched monolinguals. All arguments were coded for syntactic function and for a number of discourse pragmatic features predicted to affect their realisation. Our main prediction was that unidirectional crosslinguistic influence might occur for the English–Italian bilingual child with respect to pronominal subject and object use after the instantiation of the C system. Specifically we predicted that in Italian the bilingual child might use overt pronominal subjects in contexts where monolinguals would use a null subject, and that he might use postverbal strong object pronouns in Italian instead of preverbal weak pronominal clitics. Conversely, we did not expect the overall proportion of overt objects, whether noun phrases or pronouns, to vary crosslinguistically as objects are always obligatorily overt in both languages regardless of discourse pragmatics. Our results confirmed these predictions, and corroborated the argument that crosslinguistic influence may occur in bilingual first language acquisition in specific contexts in which syntax and pragmatics interact.

scholarly journals Interaction between two determiner systems: The acquisition of English articles by a Hebrew-speaking child

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yarden Kedar
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
Equivalent Form ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Functional Categories ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Long Period ◽  
English Articles

This longitudinal case study followed a Hebrew-speaking child acquiring L2-English, focusing on her production of articles. Although the child had already developed significant aspects of the Hebrew determiner system, her acquisition of English followed a typical developmental route for first language acquisition: single words; telegraphic speech; and complete sentences, including articles. The child’s acquisition of definite and indefinite English articles was based on different strategies: the was dropped for a long period, but was then incorporated in full sentences; whereas a, which lacks an equivalent form in Hebrew, appeared earlier in the child’s utterances, but only in memorized templates of [ a + Noun]. Moreover, the proportion of cases in which English articles were omitted in obligatory contexts decreased over time, whereas additions and substitutions increased. These findings bear upon the role of functional categories in language acquisition and the endeavor to understand the extent to which children’s L1-based knowledge may guide or interfere with their mastery of a second language.

Infant-Directed Speech Effects in Adult Artificial Grammar Learning

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krisztina Sára Lukics ◽  
Ágnes Lukács
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
First Language ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Artificial Grammar ◽  
Combined Effect ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Grammar Learning ◽  
Learning Rates

First language acquisition is facilitated by several characteristics of infant-directed speech, but we know little about their relative contribution to learning different aspects of language. We investigated infant-directed speech effects on the acquisition of a linear artificial grammar in two experiments. We examined the effect of incremental presentation of strings (starting small) and prosody (comparing monotonous, arbitrary and phrase prosody). Presenting shorter strings before longer ones led to higher learning rates compared to random presentation. Prosody marking phrases had a similar effect, yet, prosody without marking syntactic units did not facilitate learning. These studies were the first to test the starting small effect with a linear artificial grammar, and also the first to investigate the combined effect of starting small and prosody. Our results suggest that starting small and prosody facilitate the extraction of regularities from artificial linguistic stimuli, indicating they may play an important role in natural language acquisition.

Acquiring “Knowledge”—An Alternative Model

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avner Baz
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Alternative Model ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
First Language ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Empirical Science ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Method Of Cases ◽  
Striking Fact

The chapter argues that empirical studies of first-language acquisition lend support to the Wittgensteinian-Merleau-Pontian conception of language as against the prevailing conception that underwrites the method of cases in either its armchair or experimental version. It offers a non-representationalist model, inspired by the work of Michael Tomasello, for the acquisition of “knowledge,” with the aim of showing that we could fully account for the acquisition of this and other philosophically troublesome words without positing independently existing “items” to which these words refer. The chapter also aims at bringing out and underscoring the striking fact that, whereas many in contemporary analytic philosophy regard and present themselves as open and attentive to empirical science, they have often relied on a conception of language that has been supported by no empirical evidence.

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