Reaching Meaning through Language
What can Children Tell Us about Distributivity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20368264 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chiara Saponaro (0009-0009-6135-5001, University of Milano-Bicocca, corresponding author), Desiré Carioti (0000-0001-6207-5268, University of Milano-Bicocca), Martina Riva (0009-0002-7198-613X), M E Riva (University of Milano-Bicocca), Maria Teresa Guasti (0000-0002-4470-4187, University of Milano-Bicocca) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-21 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-21 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Child Language (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0305-0009 • E-ISSN: 1469-7602 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0305000925000224 |
| PMID | 40395180 |
| OpenAlex | W4410545121 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 27 |
Sentences with a plural subject receive a distributive reading if the predicate refers to the atomic members, or a collective one if it relates to the whole group. Previous accounts suggest that the distributive representation includes an additional semantic operator, and comprehension experiments show that adults interpret an ambiguous sentence as collective. However, children accept distributive readings more frequently, questioning their presumed greater difficulty. The current study investigates these interpretations in a novel way through a production study, where Italian adults and preschoolers described distributive and collective pictures. Adults produced more distributive expressions, in line with semantic theories and psycholinguistic findings. Preschoolers, however, showed limited sensitivity to the need for disambiguating markers, showing in particular that knowledge of distributive quantifiers is not fully acquired by the age of five, at least in the production domain. We discuss our results at the intersection of language acquisition, semantic theories, and cognitive development
Cognitive psychology · Comprehension · Distributive property · Distributivity · Linguistics · Plural · Referent · Sentence · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills · Language Development and Disorders · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development
Events and Plurality
Scalar Implicatures in Child Language
Groups, I
Accessing the unsaid
When children are more logical than adults
Core systems of number
Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing
The representation and processing of distributivity and collectivity
Morphosyntactic Cues for Quantifier Comprehension in Children
A Collective-Distributive Pragmatic Scale and the Developing Lexicon
The role of language processing in language acquisition
Covert distributivity in algebraic event semantics
Distributive, collective and “everything” in between
Distributivity in Formal Semantics
Conceptual Factors Influence Children's Distributivity Bias
Continuity in the Adult and Children's Comprehension of Subject and Object Relative Clauses in French and Italian
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |