The paper examines how children quote their parents’ utterances. In other words, it investigates linguistic
recycling as an aspect of language learning and how the child-directed speech (CDS) of adults influences child speech (CS). This
topic is examined especially in the light of research made in the crosslinguistic project on pre- and protomorphology in language
acquisition. Premorphology is characterized by rote-learned forms, which the child has memorized and stored as
chunks from CDS (e.g., Finn vettä, Est vett ‘water,’ partitive form). During
protomorphology, the child imitates CDS and produces analogical forms (e.g. Finn CDS: söi
vs. CS: syöi ‘ate’, Est CDS: ütles vs. CS: ükki ‘said’), which then gradually
evolve into adult-like grammar. Usage-based approaches to language acquisition rely on the assumption that language structures are
learned from language use. Typical material in present-day child language research is based on tape recordings and transcripts
made from these recordings. This kind of data makes it possible to take into account the influence of CDS to CS in a more accurate
way than the earlier data collecting methods, such as diary material, which usually contains mostly utterances produced by the
child do. The article examines how CDS gives models to CS and how the acquisition proceeds from early rote-learned forms to
adult-like grammar from the perspective of frequency distributions of inflectional patterns and elaboration on linguistic forms in
CDS – CS interaction. On the basis of analyzed speech samples and previous results, it is obvious that the quoting in children’s
and adults’ speech is present on different levels of language and is often bidirectional in nature.
Argus, R. (2009). The early development of case and number in Estonian. In Stephany, U. & Voeykova, M. D. (Eds.), Development of nominal inflection in first language acquisition: A cross-linguistic perspective, (pp. 111–151). Berlin: De Gruyter.
Argus, R., & Kõrgesaar, H. (2014). Sõnaliigid eesti lapse kõnes ja lapsele suunatud kõnes. Eesti Rakenduslingvistika Ühingu Aastaraamat. Estonian Papers of Applied Linguistics, 101, 37–53.
Dressler, W. U., Ketrez, F. N., Kilani-Schoch, M., & Stephany, U. (2017). Introduction. In W. U. Dressler, F. N. Ketrez, & M. Kilani-Schoch (Eds.), Nominal compound acquisition (pp. 1–18). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Laalo, K. (2007). Diminutives in Finnish child-directed and child speech. In I. Savickiene & W. U. Dressler (Eds.), The acquisition of diminutives: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 263–278). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Laalo, K. (2009). Acquisition of case and plural in Finnish. In U. Stephany & M. D. Voeykova (Eds.), Development of nominal inflection in first language acquisition: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 49–89). Berlin: De Gruyter.
Laalo, K. (2011). Lapsen varhaiskielioppi ja miniparadigmat [Protogrammar and miniparadigms in child language]. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura [The Finnish Literature Society].
Laalo, K. (2015). Adjectives in Finnish child language: Morphological and semantic aspects. In E. Tribushinina, M. D. Voeikova, & S. Noccetti (Eds.), Semantics and morphology of early adjectives in first language acquisition (pp. 395–434). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
Laalo, K., & Kunnari, S. (2012). Hoivakieli. In S. Kunnari & T. Savinainen-Makkonen (Eds.), Pienten sanat: Lasten äänteellinen kehitys (pp. 106–118). Jyväskylä: PS-kustannus.
Lieven, E. (2016). Usage-based approaches to language development: Where do we go from here?Language and Cognition, 8(3), 346–368.
Pajusalu, K. (2001). Baby talk as a sophisticated register: A phonological analysis of South Estonian. Psychology of Language and Communication, 5(2), 81–92.
Stephany, U., & Voeykova, M. D. (Eds.). (2009). Development of nominal inflection in first language acquisition: A cross-linguistic perspective. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Tribushinina, E., Voeikova, M. D., & Noccetti, S. (Eds.). (2015). Semantics and morphology of early adjectives in first language acquisition. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
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Odijk, Lotte & Steven Gillis
2023. Children steer the inflectional diversity of their parents: The role of word births and growing vocabulary. First Language 43:5 ► pp. 539 ff.
2021. Caregiver Linguistic Alignment to Autistic and Typically Developing Children: A Natural Language Processing Approach Illuminates the Interactive Components of Language Development. SSRN Electronic Journal
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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