Crosslinguistic Perspectives on Argument StructureMelissa Bowerman, Penelope Brown Crosslinguistic Perspectives on Argument Structure: Implications for Learnability offers a unique interdisciplinary perspective on argument structure and its role in language acquisition. Much contemporary work in linguistics and psychology assumes that argument structure is strongly constrained by a set of universal principles, and that these principles are innate, providing children with certain "bootstrapping" strategies that help them home in on basic aspects of the syntax and lexicon of their language. Drawing on a broad range of crosslinguistic data, this volume shows that languages are much more diverse in their argument structure properties than has been realized. This diversity raises challenges for many existing proposals about language acquisition, affects the range of solutions that can be considered plausible, and highlights new acquisition puzzles that until now have passed unnoticed. The volume is the outcome of an integrated research project and comprises chapters by both specialists in first language acquisition and field linguists working on a variety of lesser-known languages. The research draws on original fieldwork and on adult data, child data, or both from seventeen languages from eleven different language families. Some chapters offer typological perspectives, examining the basic structures of a given language with language-learnability issues in mind. Other chapters investigate specific problems of language acquisition in one or more languages. Taken as a whole, the volume illustrates how detailed work on crosslinguistic variation is critical to the development of insightful theories of language acquisition. Crosslinguistic Perspectives on Argument Structureintegrates important contemporary issues in linguistics and language acquisition. With its rich crosslinguistic base and the innovative empirical methods it showcases for studying the role of argument structure in language acquisition, it will be of great interest to linguists and language acquisition specialists alike, as well as to upper-level students in linguistics and psychology in the United States and abroad. |
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
| 1 |
Crosslinguistic Puzzles For Language Learners
| 27 |
Argument Ellipsis And Verb Learning
| 139 |
A ComplexworkSpace For Learnability
| 211 |
| 357 | |
| 363 | |
| 365 | |
Other editions - View all
Crosslinguistic Perspectives on Argument Structure Melissa Bowerman,Penelope Brown Snippet view - 2008 |
Crosslinguistic Perspectives on Argument Structure: Implications for ... Melissa Bowerman,Penelope Brown No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
acquisition action activity adult alternation appear argu argument structure Arrernte aspect associated assume Cambridge causative chapter child clause complement complex consider construction context contrast coverbs determine direct discussed distinction early encoded endstate English entail errors event evidence example expressed fact factors Figure frame give given Gleitman grammar Ground hypothesis interpretation intransitive language learners learning lexical Linguistics linking look marking meaning ment Mopan motion Note noun object occur participant particular patterns person phrase Pinker position possible predicate present Press problem properties proposal question realization recipient refer relation relative represent representation respect role rules semantic sentence situations speakers specific speech suffix suggests syntactic syntactic bootstrapping syntax Table Tamil telicity theme thing tion transitive verbs Tzeltal University utterances verb meaning Yukatek
References to this book
Routes to Language: Studies in Honor of Melissa Bowerman Virginia C. Mueller Gathercole No preview available - 2008 |