Learning How to License Null Noun-Class Prefixes in Sesotho

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2979255
AutoresKatherine Demuth (0000-0003-3884-8886, John Brown University), Malillo Machobane (National University of Lesotho), Francina Moloi (National University of Lesotho)
Año2009
Volumen85
Número4
Páginas864-883
Fecha de publicación2009-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLanguage (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0097-8507 • E-ISSN: 1535-0665
EditorialProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/lan.0.0173
OpenAlexW2031599459
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas22

Noun-class prefixes are obligatory in most Bantu languages. However, the Sotho languages (Sesotho, Setswana, Sepedi) permit a subset of prefixes to be realized as null at the intersection of 'unmarked' phonological, syntactic, and discourse conditions. This raises the question of how and when the licensing of null prefixes is learned. Using longitudinal data from three Sesotho-speaking children, this article shows that the conditions needed to license null prefixes have been learned before the age of three, suggesting early abilities for grammatical generalization even at the intersection of different levels of linguistic structure. The implications for learnability theory and Bantu linguistic structure more generally are discussed

Class (philosophy) · Linguistics · Noun · Null (SQL) · Prefix · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Language Development and Disorders · Mathematics · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research