Mandarin-learning 19-month-old toddlers’ sensitivity to word order cues that differentiate unaccusative and unergative verbs
-
Published:2022-12-02
Issue:
Volume:
Page:1-22
-
ISSN:0305-0009
-
Container-title:Journal of Child Language
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:J. Child Lang.
Author:
WANG Ziqi,YANG Xiaolu,SHI Rushen
Abstract
Abstract
Languages employ different means to manifest the unaccusative-unergative distinction. In Mandarin Chinese, unaccusative verbs are allowed in the inversion construction “V-le NP”, while unergative verbs are not. This grammaticality contrast brings a presence/absence contrast between the two verb classes in the inversion construction in the input. Using an eye fixation task, we investigated whether Mandarin-learning 19-month-olds were sensitive to this specific input frequency contrast. We found that infants distinguished the grammatical versus ungrammatical uses of the two verb classes in the inversion construction “V-le NP” (Experiment 1). When the verb classes were in the “NP V-le” order (Experiment 2) (i.e., the same level of grammaticality), infants showed no evidence of a looking difference. These responses indicate toddlers’ sensitivity to the distribution of the two verb classes in the inversion construction. This distributional information is likely to be one of the potential cues that facilitate their acquisition of the unaccusative-unergative distinction.
Funder
National Social Science Grant of China
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
General Psychology,Linguistics and Language,Developmental and Educational Psychology,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology,Language and Linguistics
Reference53 articles.
1. Semantic Parameters of Split Intransitivity
2. Hanyu baoliu binyu jiegou de jufa shengcheng jizhi [The syntactic generative mechanism of the retained object construction in Mandarin];Pan;Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese Language],2008
3. Lingyou mingci yiwei: jiyu MP de fenxi [The movement of possessive NPs: Analysis based on MP];Wen;Xiandai Waiyu [Modern Foreign Languages],2001
4. The Maturation of Grammatical Principles: Evidence from Russian Unaccusatives
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献