Naslov
Indexicals in Shifty Contexts: Problems for Language Acquisition

Autori
Werkmann Horvat, Ana ; Gagliardi, Annie ; and Husband, E. Matthew

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Poglavlja u knjigama, znanstveni

Knjiga
Proceedings of the 40th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development

Urednik/ci
Scott, Jennifer ; Waughtal, Deb

Izdavač
Cascadilla Press

Grad
Somerville (MA)

Godina
2016

Raspon stranica
429-442

ISBN
978-1-4438-7719-0

Ključne riječi
indexicals, L1 acquisition

Sažetak
In successful language acquisition children learn how context determines sentence interpretations. For all indexicals, Kaplan (1989) claims that the speech context directly fixes their referent. However, while English embedded indexicals do not shift reference, in other languages, reference-shifting is possible (Anand 2006, Schlenker 2009). Therefore, during language acquisition, children must determine if their language’s embedded indexicals can shift. A corpus analysis of child-directed speech revealed that unambiguously embedded indexicals are rare in the input. In the simulation experiment adults performed better than chance in recovering say- embedded indexicals from child-directed speech, but indexicals were less accurate than pronouns, suggesting that context may be rich but potentially unclear. Finally, a truth-value judgment task was used to determine whether English-acquiring children ever understand indexicals with shifted interpretations. Responses were largely adult-like, but with more flexible interpretations of embedded I vs. he, suggesting children do entertain shifted interpretations before determining their language’s indexical behavior. In successful language acquisition children learn how context determines sentence interpretations. For all indexicals, Kaplan (1989) claims that the speech context directly fixes their referent. However, while English embedded indexicals do not shift reference, in other languages, reference-shifting is possible (Anand 2006, Schlenker 2009). Therefore, during language acquisition, children must determine if their language’s embedded indexicals can shift. A corpus analysis of child-directed speech revealed that unambiguously embedded indexicals are rare in the input. In the simulation experiment adults performed better than chance in recovering say- embedded indexicals from child-directed speech, but indexicals were less accurate than pronouns, suggesting that context may be rich but potentially unclear. Finally, a truth-value judgment task was used to determine whether English-acquiring children ever understand indexicals with shifted interpretations. Responses were largely adult-like, but with more flexible interpretations of embedded I vs. he, suggesting children do entertain shifted interpretations before determining their language’s indexical behavior.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija

POVEZANOST RADA