Acquisition of German diminutive formation and compounding in a comparative perspective

Evidence for typology and the role of frequency

Wolfgang U. Dressler | Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna

Laura E. Lettner | Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna

Katharina Korecky-Kröll | Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna

Early phases of first language acquisition can shed light on general preferences in diminutive formation and compounding, as is demonstrated in this typological characterization of German diminutives and compounds and their acquisition. The role of typology is shown to be similar to that in acquisition of inflection in the parameters of morphological richness, productivity, and transparency, but different in other respects. The impact of frequency in children’s input by caregivers on their output appears to be important in corresponding token frequencies, but very restricted in predicting order of emergence.

Published online: 30 May 2012
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.322.11dre

Cited by

Cited by 6 other publications

Dressler, Wolfgang U., F. Nihan Ketrez, Marianne Kilani-Schoch & Ursula Stephany

2017. In Nominal Compound Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 61], ► pp. 1 ff.

Dressler, Wolfgang U., F. Nihan Ketrez & Marianne Kilani-Schoch

2017. In Nominal Compound Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 61], ► pp. 287 ff.

Ketrez, F. Nihan

2017. In Nominal Compound Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 61], ► pp. 231 ff.

Kilani-Schoch, Marianne

2017. In Nominal Compound Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 61], ► pp. 91 ff.

Korecky-Kröll, Katharina, Sabine Sommer-Lolei & Wolfgang U. Dressler

2017. In Nominal Compound Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 61], ► pp. 19 ff.

Stephany, Ursula & Evangelia Thomadaki

2017. In Nominal Compound Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders, 61], ► pp. 119 ff.

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