Gibbs R W
University of California, Program in Experimental Psychology, Santa Cruz.
J Speech Hear Res. 1991 Jun;34(3):613-20. doi: 10.1044/jshr.3403.613.
This study investigated the role of semantic analyzability in children's understanding of idioms. Kindergartners and first, third, and fourth graders listened to idiomatic expressions either alone or at the end of short story contexts. Their task was to explain verbally the intended meanings of these phrases and then to choose their correct idiomatic interpretations. The idioms presented to the children differed in their degree of analyzability. Some idioms were highly analyzable or decomposable, with the meanings of their parts contributing independently to their overall figurative meanings. Other idioms were nondecomposable because it was difficult to see any relation between a phrase's individual components and the idiom's figurative meaning. The results showed that younger children (kindergartners and first graders) understood decomposable idioms better than they did nondecomposable phrases. Older children (third and fourth graders) understood both kinds of idioms equally well in supporting contexts, but were better at interpreting decomposable idioms than they were at understanding nondecomposable idioms without contextual information. These findings demonstrate that young children better understand idiomatic phrases whose individual parts independently contribute to their overall figurative meanings.
本研究调查了语义可分析性在儿童对习语理解中的作用。幼儿园儿童以及一、三、四年级学生分别单独听习语表达，或者在简短故事语境结尾听习语表达。他们的任务是口头解释这些短语的预期含义，然后选择正确的习语解释。向儿童呈现的习语在可分析程度上有所不同。一些习语具有高度可分析性或可分解性，其组成部分的含义独立地构成其整体比喻意义。其他习语则不可分解，因为很难看出短语的各个组成部分与习语的比喻意义之间有任何关系。结果表明，年幼的儿童（幼儿园儿童和一年级学生）理解可分解的习语比理解不可分解的短语更好。年龄较大的儿童（三年级和四年级学生）在有辅助语境时对两种习语的理解同样好，但在解释可分解的习语方面比在没有语境信息时理解不可分解的习语表现更好。这些发现表明，幼儿能更好地理解其各个部分独立构成整体比喻意义的习语短语。
