Brandt Silke, Lieven Elena, Tomasello Michael
Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University.
School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester.
Lang Learn Dev. 2016 Apr 2;12(2):156-182. doi: 10.1080/15475441.2015.1052448. Epub 2015 Nov 10.
Children and adults follow cues such as case marking and word order in their assignment of semantic roles in simple transitives (e.g., ). It has been suggested that the same cues are used for the interpretation of complex sentences, such as transitive relative clauses (RCs) (e.g., ) (Bates, Devescovi, & D'Amico, 1999). We used a pointing paradigm to test German-speaking 3-, 4-, and 6-year-old children's sensitivity to case marking and word order in their interpretation of simple transitives and transitive RCs. In Experiment 1, case marking was ambiguous. The only cue available was word order. In Experiment 2, case was marked on lexical NPs or demonstrative pronouns. In Experiment 3, case was marked on lexical NPs or personal pronouns. Whereas the younger children mainly followed word order, the older children were more likely to base their interpretations on the more reliable case-marking cue. In most cases, children from both age groups were more likely to use these cues in their interpretation of simple transitives than in their interpretation of transitive RCs. Finally, children paid more attention to nominative case when it was marked on first-person personal pronouns than when it was marked on third-person lexical NPs or demonstrative pronouns, such as 'the-NOM lion' or 'he-NOM.' They were able to successfully integrate this case-marking cue in their sentence processing even when it appeared late in the sentence. We discuss four potential reasons for these differences across development, constructions, and lexical items. (1) Older children are relatively more sensitive to cue reliability. (2) Word order is more reliable in simple transitives than in transitive RCs. (3) The processing of case marking might initially be item-specific. (4) The processing of case marking might depend on its saliency and position in the sentence.
儿童和成人在简单及物句（如……）中分配语义角色时会遵循诸如格标记和词序等线索。有人认为，同样的线索也用于解释复杂句子，如及物关系从句（RCs）（如……）（贝茨、德韦斯科维、达米科，1999）。我们采用指向范式来测试说德语的3岁、4岁和6岁儿童在解释简单及物句和及物关系从句时对格标记和词序的敏感度。在实验1中，格标记不明确。唯一可用的线索是词序。在实验2中，格标记在词汇名词短语或指示代词上。在实验3中，格标记在词汇名词短语或人称代词上。较年幼的儿童主要遵循词序，而年龄较大的儿童更有可能基于更可靠的格标记线索进行解释。在大多数情况下，两个年龄组的儿童在解释简单及物句时比在解释及物关系从句时更有可能使用这些线索。最后，当主格标记在第一人称代词上时，儿童比当它标记在第三人称词汇名词短语或指示代词上（如“主格狮子”或“他主格”）时更关注主格。即使主格标记出现在句子的较晚位置，他们也能够在句子处理过程中成功整合这个格标记线索。我们讨论了在发展、结构和词汇项目方面存在这些差异的四个潜在原因。（1）年龄较大的儿童对线索可靠性相对更敏感。（2）在简单及物句中词序比在及物关系从句中更可靠。（3）格标记的处理最初可能是针对特定项目的。（4）格标记的处理可能取决于其在句子中的显著性和位置。
