Direct object omission is a general occurrence, observed in varying degrees across the world's languages. The expression of verbal transitivity in small children begins with the regular use of verbs without their object, even where object omissions are illicit in the ambient language. Grounded in generative grammar and learnability theory, this book presents a comprehensive view of experimental approaches to object acquisition, and is the first to examine how children rely on the lexical, structural and pragmatic components to unravel the system. The results presented lead to the hypothesis that missing objects in child language should not be seen as a deficit but as a continuous process of knowledge integration. The book argues for a new model of how this aspect of grammar is innately represented from birth. Ideal reading for advanced students and researchers in language acquisition and syntactic theory, the book's opening and closing chapters are also suitable for non-specialist readers.
Reviews
'This is an admirable example of how a sophisticated analysis of a narrowly defined and partly even invisible phenomenon can reveal deep insights into language acquisition, with wide-ranging consequences for syntactic theory. As such, it is also a demonstration of how acquisition research can inform grammatical theory. Beautifully written, this book is therefore highly recommended to a readership not only interested in language acquisition but also in syntactic theory.' Jürgen Meisel, University of Hamburg
More info
This book explores a much-debated area of language acquisition: the omission by young children of direct objects in a sentence.
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ix | |
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x | |
| Foreword |
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xi | |
| Acknowledgments |
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xvi | |
| Abbreviations |
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xviii | |
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1 Missing Objects in Child Language |
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1 | (26) |
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1 | (5) |
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1.2 What Are Verbs and How Are They Learned? |
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6 | (10) |
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1.3 A Brief History of Objects in Acquisition |
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16 | (3) |
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1.4 The Nature of Experience |
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19 | (2) |
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1.5 The Conclusion of the Introduction |
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21 | (6) |
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2 From the Missing to the Invisible |
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27 | (32) |
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27 | (2) |
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2.2 Null Objects and Transitivity in Adult Systems |
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29 | (8) |
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2.3 Transitivity in Adult Systems: The Grammatical Perspective |
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37 | (20) |
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57 | (1) |
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2.5 Conclusion: Transitivity from the Acquisition Perspective |
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58 | (1) |
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3 Rome Leads to All Roads |
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59 | (47) |
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59 | (6) |
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3.2 A Cross-Linguistic Object Omission Stage |
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65 | (16) |
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3.3 Object Omission and Optionality |
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81 | (2) |
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3.4 Object Omission in Different Theoretical Approaches |
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83 | (5) |
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3.5 Input Effects: Ambiguity and Diversity |
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88 | (9) |
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3.6 Going Beyond One Language: Bilingual Acquisition |
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97 | (7) |
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104 | (2) |
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4 Interpreting the Missing Object |
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106 | (43) |
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4.1 Refining the Problem: Silent Objects Are Quiet |
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106 | (1) |
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4.2 Null Objects and the Uniformity Hypothesis |
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107 | (13) |
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4.3 Pragmatics Meets Syntax |
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120 | (8) |
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4.4 A Null Hypothesis for Null Objects: Experimental Approaches to Comprehension |
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128 | (15) |
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4.5 Detecting the Presence of Null Objects |
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143 | (5) |
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148 | (1) |
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5 How Unusual Is Your Object? |
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149 | (41) |
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149 | (1) |
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149 | (5) |
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5.3 The Other Side of the Coin: Recoverability from Within |
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154 | (9) |
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5.4 The View from the Lexicon |
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163 | (9) |
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5.5 The Implicit Learning of Implicit Objects |
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172 | (3) |
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5.6 Empirical Consequences of the Proposal |
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175 | (14) |
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189 | (1) |
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190 | (16) |
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190 | (1) |
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190 | (7) |
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197 | (3) |
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200 | (6) |
| References |
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206 | (22) |
| Index |
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228 | |
Ana Teresa Pérez-Leroux is Professor of Spanish and Linguistics, and Director of the Cognitive Science Program at the University of Toronto. Her research seeks to understand how children learn the syntax and semantics of the smallest and silent components of sentence grammar, including determiners, prepositions, number, tense, mood and aspect, null objects and subjects, and how grammatical complexity develops from these components. Mihaela Pirvulescu is Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Language Studies, University of Toronto. Her research looks at the morpho-syntactic expression and acquisition of verbal argument structure, and how bilingualism and multilingualism impacts the course of language acquisition. Yves Roberge is Principal of New College and Professor of Linguistics in the French Department at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on the syntax and semantics of French and other Romance languages, especially Canadian French, as well as dialectal variation, first language acquisition, and the syntax-morphology interface.
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