Mazzocco M M
Arizona State University, USA.
J Child Lang. 1997 Jun;24(2):441-67. doi: 10.1017/s0305000997003103.
The effect of homonymity on children's use of semantic context to derive word meaning was examined in two studies. Participants were presented with stories that included three types of key words: nonsense words, familiar words used accurately, and homonymous words. Thirty-two preschoolers aged 3;7 to 5;4, 32 second graders aged 7;1 to 8;8, and 16 college students in Study 1 indicated the keys words' meaning by selecting one of six possible illustrations per key word. In Study 2, 16 toddlers aged 2;9 to 3;3, 32 preschoolers aged 4;0 to 4;11, 32 second graders aged 7;0 to 8;11, and 32 fifth graders aged 10;1 to 11;8 indicated key word meanings either by enacting each story with paper dolls or by selecting one of six possible illustrations. Word type and age, but not response mode, affected children's interpretations. Children from all four age groups made fewer contextually based interpretations of homonymous words than of nonsense words. Fifth graders and adults made more contextually based (rather than literal) interpretations of homonymous words than did younger children. The results suggest that homonymity is a powerful inhibitor of children's tendency to derive a meaning for a new word from context.
两项研究考察了同音异义现象对儿童利用语义语境推导词义的影响。给参与者呈现包含三种关键词类型的故事：无意义词、准确使用的常用词和同音异义词。研究1中，32名3岁7个月至5岁4个月的学龄前儿童、32名7岁1个月至8岁8个月的二年级学生和16名大学生通过从每个关键词的六个可能插图中选择一个来指出关键词的含义。在研究2中，16名2岁9个月至3岁3个月的幼儿、32名4岁0个月至4岁11个月的学龄前儿童、32名7岁0个月至8岁11个月的二年级学生和32名10岁1个月至11岁8个月的五年级学生通过用纸娃娃表演每个故事或从六个可能插图中选择一个来指出关键词的含义。词的类型和年龄而非反应方式影响了儿童的解释。所有四个年龄组的儿童对同音异义词基于语境的解释都比对无意义词的少。五年级学生和成年人对同音异义词基于语境（而非字面）的解释比年幼的儿童更多。结果表明，同音异义现象是儿童从语境中推导新词含义倾向的有力抑制因素。
