The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition Children acquire

The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition Children acquire the grammar of their language —a SYSTEM of RULES for Syntax and Morphology and Phonology, etc. with input that is “…incomplete, noisy, and unstructured. The utterances include slips of the tongue, false starts, ungrammatical and incomplete sentences, and no information as to which utterances heard are well formed and which are not. ” Fromkin, Victoria and Robert Rodman. An Introduction to Language, sixth edition. Forth Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998, p. 340.

Development of Grammar Acquisition of Phonology Acquisition of Word Meaning Acquisition of Morphology Acquisition of Syntax Acquisition of Pragmatics Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9 th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, pp. 339 -350.

Sixteen month-old JP’s Vocabulary [ aw] not [s: ] aerosol spray [b ]/[m ] up [sju: ] shoe [da] dog [haj] hi [i o]/[si o] Cheerios [sr] shirt / sweater [sa] sock [s : ]/[ s : ] what’s that? /hey, look [aj]/[ j] light [ma] mommy [baw]/[daw] down [d ] daddy Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9 th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 336.

Acquisition Order of Sounds Manner of Articulation Nasals Glides Stops Liquids Fricatives Affricates Place of Articulation Labials Velars Alveolars Palatals Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language, 7 th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p. 356.

Perception and Production Linguist Neil Smith and his 2 -year-old son Father: Amahl: What does [maws] mean? Like a cat. Yes, what else? Nothing else It’s part of your head. [fascinated] [touching Amahl’s mouth] What’s this? [maws] Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9 th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 340.

Simplifying the Sounds of a Language [ pun ] [ peyn ] [ t s ] [ taw ] [ tin ] [ pol r ] [ majtl ] [ dajt r ] [ pati ] [ mani ] [ b rt ] spoon plane kiss cow clean stroller Michael diaper Papi Mommy Bert (big) Bird Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9 th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 341.

The Problem of Acquiring Meaning “A child who observes a cat sitting on a mat also observes…a mat supporting a cat, a mat under a cat, a floor supporting a mat and a cat, and so on. If the adult now says. ‘The cat is on the mat’ even while pointing to the cat on the mat, how is the child to choose among these interpretations of the situation? ” [L. R. Gleitman and E. Wanner. 1982. Language Acquisition: The State of the Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 10. ] [Reference not given in 2009, 9 th ed. ; given in 2003. ] Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9 th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 342.

Innate Bias in Acquiring Word Meaning 1. Whole object principle 2. Form over color principle 3. Everything has a name 4. Each thing has only one name Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language, 7 th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p. 360.

Stages of Irregular Verb Acquisition Phase 1 broke brought went Phase 2 breaked bringed goed Phase 3 broke brought went Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9 th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 344.

Acquisition of Morphology TOM: Where’s Mommy? CHILD: Mommy goed to the store. TOM: Mommy goed to the store? CHILD: NO! (annoyed) Daddy, I say it that way, not you. CHILD: You readed some of it too…she readed all the rest. DAN: She read the whole thing to you, huh? CHILD: Nu-uh, you read some. DAN: Oh, that’s right, yeah. I readed the beginning of it. CHILD: Readed? (annoyed surprise) Read! (pronounced / r d /) DAN: Oh, yeah, read. CHILD: Will you stop that, Papa? Steven Pinker. Words and Rules. New York: Basic Books, 1999, pp. 199 -200.

Morpheme Acquisition Order -ing in, on -s (REGULAR PLURAL) -s (1 st PERS SINGULAR PRESENT) ’s (POSSESSIVE) Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language, 7 th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p. 365.

Two-Word Sentences allgone sock bye boat more wet Katherine sock hi Mommy allgone sticky it ball dirty sock Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9 th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 347.

Setting Parameters Head Parameter VP VO OV PP Prep N N Post English Japanese n Verb Movement Dutch, Italian n Auxiliary Movement English n Explicit Subject English, yes Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, no n [NOT in book? ] Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language, 9 th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, pp. 354 -355.

Chapter 7 Homework (Exercise 5, pp. 370 -371) 1. don’t 2. skip 3. shoe 4. that 5. play 6. thump 7. bath 8. chop 9. kitty 10. light 11. dolly 12. grow [ dot ] [ k p ] [ su ] [ d t ] [ p e ] [ d p ] [ b t ] [ t ap ] [ k di ] [ wajt ] [ dawi ] [ go ] simplification: Con. Cl simplify: Cons. Clust substitute & simplify substitute/simplify ? ? substitute simplify: Cons. Clust

Chapter 7 Homework (Exercise 7, p. 371) Adult Form a. children b. went c. better d. best e. brought f. sang g. geese h. worst i. knives j. worse Child form childs goed gooder goodest bringed singed gooses baddest knifes badder