Article published In: Language, Plasticity and Learning: Developmental Issues: Langage, Plasticité et Apprentissage : enjeux développementaux
Edited by Michèle Kail and Frédéric Isel
[Language, Interaction and Acquisition 12:1] 2021
► pp. 157–184
Parameter setting and acceleration
Subject omissions in a trilingual child with special reference to French
Published online: 27 July 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.20011.sca
https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.20011.sca
Abstract
The present contribution analyzes the acquisition of subjects in French based on a longitudinal case study of a trilingual
child aged 2;8–3;2 who acquired French, Italian and Spanish simultaneously. The three languages vary with respect to the null-subject
property; French is traditionally characterized as a non-null-subject language, while Italian and Spanish are prototypical null-subject
languages. Argument subject omissions in French are ungrammatical but frequently observed in monolingual children in early acquisitional
phases, as are ungrammatical postverbal subjects which cluster with null-subjects. Bilingual children acquiring French produce fewer subject
omissions and postverbal subjects. The present study also finds an acceleration effect in the trilingual child. The results are interpreted
in light of a parameter setting which accounts for different verb classes at different locations with which the null-subjects occur, giving
rise to ‘categorial CS’ or ‘congruent categorialization.’
Keywords: null-subjects, parameter setting, acceleration, trilingualism, French
Résumé
Cette contribution analyse l’acquisition des sujets en français ayant pour base une étude de cas
longitudinale d’un enfant trilingue âgé de 2;8–3;2 qui acquiert le français, l’italien et l’espagnol simultanément.
Ces trois langues varient selon la propriété du sujet nul : le français est traditionnellement caractérisé comme langue sans sujet nul,
alors que l’italien et l’espagnol sont des langues à sujet nul typiques. Les omissions du sujet argumental ne sont pas
grammaticales en français mais fréquemment observées chez les enfants monolingues dans les phases d’acquisition précoce. Il en va de
même pour les sujets postverbaux agrammaticaux qui forment un cluster avec les sujets nuls. Les enfants bilingues qui acquièrent le français
produisent moins d’omissions du sujet ainsi que des sujets postverbaux. La présente étude confirme un effet d’accélération
chez l’enfant trilingue. Les résultats sont interprétés en vue d’une paramétrisation tenant compte des classes verbales
différentes localisées aux niveaux différents avec lesquelles apparaissent les sujets nuls et qui provoquent un ‘CS catégoriel’ ou une
‘catégorialisation congruente.’
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Contact phenomena in multilingual language acquisition: Crosslinguistic influence and code-mixing
- 3.The acquisition of the null-subject parameter
- 3.1Pronominal subjects in French (and other Romance languages)
- 3.2Acquisition of pronominal subjects in French
- 3.3Parameter hierarchy
- 4.The study
- 4.1Hypotheses
- 4.2Results
- 4.2.1Quantitative aspects of subject realizations and omissions
- 4.2.2Qualitative aspects of subject realizations
- 4.2.3Position of subjects
- 4.2.4Qualitative analysis of empty subjects
- 5.Discussion and conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
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