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ERIC Number: EJ1030380
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1048-9223
EISSN: N/A
The Acquisition of Neg-V and V-Neg Order in Embedded Clauses in Swedish: A Microparametric Approach
Waldmann, Christian
Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, v21 n1 p45-71 2014
This article examines the acquisition of embedded verb placement in Swedish children, focusing on Neg-V and V-Neg order. It is proposed that a principle of economy of movement creates an overuse of V-Neg order in embedded clauses and that the low frequency of the target-consistent Neg-V order in child-directed speech obstructs children from revising their initial hypothesis about the verb placement in embedded clauses, creating a delay in the acquisition of Neg-V. However, it is also demonstrated that, despite the lack of clear evidence for the Neg-V order in Swedish children's input, the children distinguish between different types of embedded clauses in the acquisition of Neg-V and V-Neg order already between the age of 3 and 4 years, supporting a microparametric approach to language acquisition. Comparing child-directed Swedish and child-directed German, it is further proposed that the presence of clear evidence for verb-final in the input to German children aids error-free acquisition of embedded verb placement in German.
Psychology Press. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A