Parameterization in labeling
Evidence from child language
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20344231 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kumiko Murasugi (0000-0002-5971-9920, Nanzan University, corresponding author), Keiko Murasugi (Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 147-172 |
| Publication date | 2020-02-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Linguistic Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0167-6318 • E-ISSN: 1613-3676 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/tlr-2019-2037 |
| OpenAlex | W2955842319 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
This paper examines very early child grammars from the minimalist perspective. It discusses the well-known erroneous strings very young children produce such as Root Infinitives in English and their Japanese counterparts, preverbal object sentences in English, and sentences without Case markers in Japanese. The main question to be addressed is whether those sentences children produce are labeled, and if so, how the labeling takes place. Assuming that φ-feature agreement and suffixal Case markers play crucial roles for labeling in English and Japanese respectively (Chomsky 2013; Saito 2016), I consider two possibilities. One is that children are equipped with those almost from the outset although they are not phonetically realized. This means that even the erroneous strings children produced are properly labeled. The other is that those strings are not labeled in the adult way and that children at the relevant stage are still in the process of figuring out how the {XP, YP} structure is labeled in their respective languages. I argue that the latter is a viable possibility, given the parameterization in the labeling mechanism, and receives support from the child data as well. This conclusion implies that a main part of the acquisition of syntax is for a child to discover how her/his target language labels the {XP, YP} structure
Language acquisition · Linguistics · Minimalist program · Natural language processing · Rule-based machine translation · Syntactic structure · Syntax · Computer Science · Language Development and Disorders · Multilingual Education and Policy · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation · Artificial Intelligence
On Phases
Some Notes on Linguistic Theory and Language Development
Case and agreement in English language development
Pronoun case overextensions and paradigm building
(A) Case for labeling
Problems of projection
Very early parameter setting and the unique checking constraint
On the Locality and Motivation of Move and Agree
The Full Competence Hypothesis of Clause Structure in Early German
The Ontogeny of English Phrase Structure
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |