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Article published In: Language, Interaction and Acquisition
Vol. 13:1 (2022) ► pp.93–124

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Word order in the input to Argentinian Spanish-learning children

How reliable as a cue to clause transitivity?

 | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, Argentina)
 | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, Argentina)
 | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, Argentina)
 | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, Argentina)
Published online: 24 August 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lia.21016.aud
Abstract
Languages express events in the world by means of transitive and intransitive constructions, whose properties differ according to language typology. Children witness how specific languages express transitivity by listening to linguistic input, which varies according to contextual variables (such as the age of the speaker and the addressee). In this study, we investigated word order, one feature that typically helps discriminate between transitive and intransitive constructions but is more reliable in some languages than others. The frequency and consistency of word order as a cue towards clause transitivity was analysed in the input to 19 monolingual Spanish-learning children from Argentina (20 months old on average, SD = 0.3), diverse in terms of socioeconomic status (SES). We found that some word orders occur far more frequently and/or indicate clause transitivity much more reliably than others. In addition, their consistency as transitivity cues varied across the registers and was crucially affected by SES.
Résumé
Les langues expriment les événements dans le monde au moyen de constructions transitives et intransitives, dont les propriétés diffèrent selon la typologie linguistique. Les enfants constatent comment des langues spécifiques expriment la transitivité en écoutant les données linguistiques de l’input, qui varie en fonction de facteurs contextuelles (telle que l’âge du locuteur et du destinataire). Dans cette étude, nous avons analysé l’ordre des mots, une caractéristique qui aide généralement à faire la distinction entre les constructions transitives et intransitives, mais qui est plus fiable dans certaines langues que dans d’autres. La fréquence et la cohérence de l’ordre des mots en tant qu’indicateur de transitivité des propositions ont été analysées dans l’input de 19 enfants unilingues apprenant l’espagnol d’Argentine (20 mois en moyenne, SD = 0.3), qui différaient en termes de statut socio-économique (SSE). Nous avons constaté que certains ordres de mots sont beaucoup plus fréquents et/ou indiquent la transitivité des propositions de manière beaucoup plus fiable que d’autres. De plus, leur cohérence en tant qu’indicateurs de transitivité varie d’un registre à l’autre et est considérablement affectée par le SSE.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Acquisition of transitive vs. intransitive patterns in production and comprehension
    • 1.2The acquisition of word order across languages
    • 1.3The role of the input registers and SES level
  • 2.The present study
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Data
    • 3.2Procedures
      • 3.2.1Sample selection
      • 3.2.2Clause segmentation
      • 3.2.3Coding
    • 3.3Analysis
      • 3.3.1Cue frequency
      • 3.3.2Cue reliability
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Cue frequency
      • 4.1.1Socioeconomic status (SES)
      • 4.1.2Speaker
      • 4.1.3Addressee
    • 4.2Cue consistency
      • 4.2.1Socioeconomic status (SES)
      • 4.2.2Speaker
      • 4.2.3Addressee
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Variability in reliability and consistency of word order cues in the input
    • 5.2The role of SES in the reliability and frequency of word order cues
    • 5.3The role of the speaker and the addressee in the reliability and frequency of word order cues
    • 5.4The combined effect of SES and input register on the frequency and reliability of word order cues: Some settings are more favourable than others
  • Notes
  • References
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