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The Acquisition of Derivational Morphology
A cross-linguistic perspective
This book offers the first systematic study of the early phases in the acquisition of derivational morphology from a cross-linguistic and typological perspective.
It presents ten empirical longitudinal studies in genealogically and typologically diverse languages (Indo-European, Finno-Ugric, Altaic) with different degrees of derivational complexity. Data collection, analysis and systematic comparison between child speech and parental child-directed speech are strictly parallel across the chapters. In order to identify the productivity of a derivational pattern, signalling the crucial developmental stage in its acquisition, the concept of the mini-paradigm criterion was applied.
Similar developmental processes can be observed in all children, independent of the language they acquire, but the children’s courses of development also show obvious typological differences. This points towards an important impact of the structural properties of the specific language on emergence, use and the early course of development of derivational patterns.
It presents ten empirical longitudinal studies in genealogically and typologically diverse languages (Indo-European, Finno-Ugric, Altaic) with different degrees of derivational complexity. Data collection, analysis and systematic comparison between child speech and parental child-directed speech are strictly parallel across the chapters. In order to identify the productivity of a derivational pattern, signalling the crucial developmental stage in its acquisition, the concept of the mini-paradigm criterion was applied.
Similar developmental processes can be observed in all children, independent of the language they acquire, but the children’s courses of development also show obvious typological differences. This points towards an important impact of the structural properties of the specific language on emergence, use and the early course of development of derivational patterns.
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 66] 2021. ix, 307 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 20 October 2021
Published online on 20 October 2021
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
- List of abbreviations | pp. vii–viii
- Acknowledgements | pp. ix–9
- Chapter 1. IntroductionWolfgang U. Dressler, Veronika Mattes and Laila Kjærbæk | pp. 1–20
- Chapter 2. The development of derivation in early Greek first language acquisitionUrsula Stephany | pp. 21–52
- Chapter 3. Derivational patterns in spontaneous data of French-speaking parent-child interactions before age threeMarianne Kilani-Schoch and Aris Xanthos | pp. 53–84
- Chapter 4. Emergence and early development of derivatives in Danish child languageLaila Kjærbæk and Hans Basbøll | pp. 85–108
- Chapter 5. Early phases of development of German derivational morphologySabine Sommer-Lolei, Veronika Mattes, Katharina Korecky-Kröll and Wolfgang U. Dressler | pp. 109–140
- Chapter 6. Derivational morphology in Croatian child languageGordana Hržica | pp. 141–168
- Chapter 7. Acquisition of derivational morphology in RussianVictoria V. Kazakovskaya and Maria D. Voeikova | pp. 169–196
- Chapter 8. The acquisition of the Lithuanian derivational systemLaura Kamandulytė-Merfeldienė, Ingrida Balčiūnienė and Ineta Dabašinskienė | pp. 197–216
- Chapter 9. Acquisition of noun and verb derivation in EstonianReili Argus | pp. 217–236
- Chapter 10. Derivation in Finnish child speech and child-directed speechKlaus Laalo | pp. 237–262
- Chapter 11. Noun and verb derivations in early Turkish child and child-directed speechF. Nihan Ketrez and Ayhan Aksu-Koç | pp. 263–288
- Chapter 12. ConclusionsVeronika Mattes and Wolfgang U. Dressler | pp. 289–304
- Subject index
Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Mattiello, Elisa & Wolfgang U. Dressler
2026. English and German suffixoids and their Italian equivalents. Languages in Contrast 26:1 ► pp. 137 ff.
Dressler, Wolfgang U.
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