Abstract
Children use syntax to guide sentence comprehension and verb learning. We explored the nature of the meanings children infer from syntactic evidence by examining the types of event-roles they can link with the subjects and objects of transitive verbs. In two experiments, 23-month-olds heard a novel verb in a transitive sentence while viewing pairs of events in which one participant acted on another without producing a clear effect (Experiment 1) or one participant moved relative to another without contacting it (Experiment 2). In both cases, children looked longer at the event in which the subject referent played a more prominent role. These findings suggest that children map a highly abstract conceptual-semantic asymmetry onto the syntactic difference between subjects and objects.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Trends in Language Acquisition Research |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company |
| Pages | 153-176 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| Volume | 24 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2018 |
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Keywords
- Language acquisition
- Syntactic bootstrapping
- Thematic roles
- Transitivity
- Verb learning
- Word order
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Linguistics and Language
- Cultural Studies
- Communication
Cite this
Not all subjects are agents : Transitivity and meaning in early language comprehension. / Scott, Rose M.; Gertner, Yael; Fisher, Cynthia L.
Trends in Language Acquisition Research. Vol. 24 John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2018. p. 153-176.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
}
TY - CHAP
T1 - Not all subjects are agents
T2 - Transitivity and meaning in early language comprehension
AU - Scott, Rose M.
AU - Gertner, Yael
AU - Fisher, Cynthia L
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Children use syntax to guide sentence comprehension and verb learning. We explored the nature of the meanings children infer from syntactic evidence by examining the types of event-roles they can link with the subjects and objects of transitive verbs. In two experiments, 23-month-olds heard a novel verb in a transitive sentence while viewing pairs of events in which one participant acted on another without producing a clear effect (Experiment 1) or one participant moved relative to another without contacting it (Experiment 2). In both cases, children looked longer at the event in which the subject referent played a more prominent role. These findings suggest that children map a highly abstract conceptual-semantic asymmetry onto the syntactic difference between subjects and objects.
AB - Children use syntax to guide sentence comprehension and verb learning. We explored the nature of the meanings children infer from syntactic evidence by examining the types of event-roles they can link with the subjects and objects of transitive verbs. In two experiments, 23-month-olds heard a novel verb in a transitive sentence while viewing pairs of events in which one participant acted on another without producing a clear effect (Experiment 1) or one participant moved relative to another without contacting it (Experiment 2). In both cases, children looked longer at the event in which the subject referent played a more prominent role. These findings suggest that children map a highly abstract conceptual-semantic asymmetry onto the syntactic difference between subjects and objects.
KW - Language acquisition
KW - Syntactic bootstrapping
KW - Thematic roles
KW - Transitivity
KW - Verb learning
KW - Word order
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85064014113&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1075/tilar.24.07sco
DO - 10.1075/tilar.24.07sco
M3 - Chapter
VL - 24
SP - 153
EP - 176
BT - Trends in Language Acquisition Research
PB - John Benjamins Publishing Company
ER -