Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-jswmv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T15:49:18.440Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The word order myth*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Richard M. Weist
Richard M. Weist
Affiliation:
State University of New York and Adam Mickiewicz University
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the function of word order, inflections and discourse context in the sentence comprehension process. Ten 2; 6 and ten 3; 6 Polish children acted out sentences with toys. The target sentences were either inflected or uninflected, and given inflectional information sentences were ordered SVO or OVS. Context sentences established given information which was in initial or final position in the target sentences. When inflectional information was available, all the children used it effectively with very little interference from OVS and new–given arrangements. In spite of the fact that word order distributes given and new information in adult Polish, children could utilize word order to recover semantic functions with uninflected sentence problems.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , February 1983, pp. 97 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

[*]

This research was supported by the SUNY Research Foundation, the Fulbright Program, and the Polish Academy of Science. The following research assistants tested and recorded the children: Hanna Wysocka, Katarzyna Witkowska-Stadnik, Ewa Buczowska, Emilia Konieczna, Ewa Domżalska, Zofia Baranowska, Katarzyna Niezabitowska-Handke, and Jolanta Stawicka. Address for correspondence: Department of Psychology, State University of New York, College at Fredonia, Fredonia, New York 14063.

References

REFERENCES

Aksu, A. A. (1978). Aspect and modality in the child's acquisition of the Turkish past tense. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, xypUniversity of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Argoff, H. D. (1976). The acquisition of Finnish inflectional morphology. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Bates, E. & MacWhinney, B. (1979). The functionalist approach to the acquisition of grammar. In Ochs, E.. & Schiefflin, B.. (eds), Developmental pragmatics. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Braine, M. D. S. (1976). Children's first word combinations. Monogr.Soc.Res.Ch.Devel. 41.Google Scholar
Braine, M. D. S. & Wells, R. S. (1978). Case-like categories in children: the actor and some related categories, CogPsychol 10. 100–22.Google Scholar
Bridges, A. (1980). SVO comprehension strategies reconsidered: the evidence of individual patterns of response. JChLang 7. 80–104.Google ScholarPubMed
Bruner, J. S. (1975). The ontogenesis of speech acts. JChLang 2. 1–19.Google Scholar
Chafe, W. (1970). Meaning and the structure of language. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Chapman, R. S. & Kohn, L. L. (1978). Comprehension strategies in two and three year olds: animate agents or probable events? JSpHearRes 21. 746–61.Google ScholarPubMed
de Villiers, J. G. & de Villiers, P. A. (1973). Development of the use of word order in comprehension. JPsycholingRes 2. 231–41.Google ScholarPubMed
Frankel, D. G., Amir, M., Frenkel, E. & Arbel, T. (1980). A developmental study of the role of word order in comprehending Hebrew. JExpChPsychol 29. 23–5.Google ScholarPubMed
Li, C. N. & Thompson, S. A. (1975), The semantic function of word order: a case study in Mandarin. In Li, C. N..(ed.), Word order and word order change. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
McNeill, D. (1966). Developmental psycholinguistics. In Smith, F.. & Miller, G.. (eds), The genesis of language: a psycholinguistic approach. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T.Google Scholar
Osgood, C. E. & Tanz, C. (1977). Will the real direct object in bitransitive sentences please stand up? In Juilland, A.. (ed.), Linguistic studies offered to Joseph Greenberg on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. Saratoga, Calif.: Anima Libri.Google Scholar
Radulovic, L. (1975). Acquisition of language: studies of Dubrovnik children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Segalowitz, N. S. & Galang, R. G. (1978). Agent–patient word-order preference in the acquisition of Tagalog. JChLang 5. 47–64.Google Scholar
Sinclair, H. & Bronckart, J. P. (1972). S.V.O. A linguistic universal? A study in developmental psycholinguistics. JExpChPsychol 14. 329–48.Google Scholar
Slobin, D. (1966). The acquisition of Russian as a native language. In Smith, F.. & Miller, G.. (eds), The genesis of language: a psycholinguistic approach. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T.Google Scholar
Slobin, D. (1973). Cognitive prerequisites for the development of grammar. In Ferguson, C. A.. & Slobin, D. I.. (eds), Studies of child language development. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
Slobin, D. (1981). Universal and particular in the acquisition of language. In Gleitman, L. R.. & Wanner, E.. (eds), Language acquisition: state of the art. Cambridge: C.U.P.Google Scholar
Slobin, D. & Bever, T. G. (1981). Children use canonical sentence schemas: a cross-linguistic study of word order and inflections. Ms.Google Scholar
Smoczyńska, M. (1978). Wszesne stadia rozwoju składni w mowie dziecka (The early phase of development of syntax in the speech of children). Dissertation. Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Kraków.Google Scholar
Szwedek, A. (1976). Word order, sentence stress and reference in English and Polish. Edmonton: Linguistic Research.Google Scholar
Underhill, R. (1972). Turkish participles. LI 3. 87–100.Google Scholar
Weist, R. M. (1982). Verb concepts in child language: acquiring constraints on action role and animacy. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.Google Scholar
Zarębina, M. (1964). Ksztaltowanie się systemu językowego dziecka (The formation of the language system of a child). Kraków: Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk.Google Scholar