Edited by Zhu Hua and Lixian Jin
[Benjamins Current Topics 60] 2014
► pp. 13–34
This study investigated self/other reference in Mandarin child language by testing the hypothesis that children’s overt self/other reference is related to the pragmatic notion of social control (Budwig, 1989, 1990, 1995). The participants were two Mandarin-speaking children and their mothers. Natural mother–child conversations were video-recorded when the children were between the ages of 2;2 and 3;1. Each child and maternal utterance with an implicit or explicit self/other reference was categorized by function as either control act or assertive. The analysis showed that the children tended to use overt forms for self/other reference in control acts while using null forms in assertives. In contrast, the mothers’ speech did not reflect such a distinction. The results suggest that social control appears to be a salient notion to Mandarin-speaking children, and that the children organize their use of self/other reference forms around the pragmatic notion of social control.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.