Cover not available
Part of
The Acquisition of Derivational Morphology: A cross-linguistic perspective
Edited by Veronika Mattes, Sabine Sommer-Lolei, Katharina Korecky-Kröll and Wolfgang U. Dressler
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 66] 2021
► pp. 109–140

Chapter 5
Early phases of development of German derivational morphology

| Austrian Academy of Sciences | University of Vienna
| University of Graz
| University of Vienna
| Austrian Academy of Sciences | University of Vienna

This chapter presents for the first time an overall description of the development of German derivational morphology. The longitudinal spontaneous speech corpora of three children acquiring Standard Austrian German and their mothers is analysed up to 3;0, with outlooks up to 6;0. The analysis focusses on nominal, verbal and adjectival derivation patterns that play a role at this early age, as well as on age and order of emergence, productive use and development of various patterns and its possible correlation to the respective input. The mini-paradigm criterion is extended to derivational morphology for attesting potential productivity in child speech. Only a very small inventory of derivational patterns is acquired up to 3;0; acquisition of derivation accelerates remarkably during preschool age.

Keywords: mini-paradigm criterion, particle verbs, agent and instrument nouns, conversion, productive use
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.German derivational morphology
    • 2.1Noun formation
    • 2.2Verb formation
    • 2.3Adjective formation
  • 3.Previous research on the acquisition of German derivational morphology
  • 4.Acquisition data and methods
    • 4.1Data
    • 4.2Methods
      • Mini-paradigm criterion (MPC)
  • 5.Distribution of derivations in CS and CDS
    • 5.1Noun derivation
    • 5.2Verb derivation
    • 5.3Adjective derivation
  • 6.Course of acquisition (nouns and verbs)
  • 7.Emergence and productive use
    • 7.1Derived nouns
      • Emergences
      • Productivity
    • 7.2Derived verbs
      • Emergences
      • Productivity
    • 7.3Derived adjectives
      • Emergences and productivity
  • 8.Frequencies vs. age and order of emergence
  • 9.Rise of complexity
  • 10.Conclusions and outlook
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 10 November 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.66.05som
References (56)
Arkadiev, P. & Gardani, F.
2020 Introduction: Complexities in morphology. In The Complexities of Morphology, P. Arkadiev & F. Gardani (eds), 1–19. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Behrens, H.
1998 How difficult are complex verbs? Evidence from German, Dutch and English. Linguistics 36(4): 679–712. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bittner, D.
2003 The emergence of verb inflection in two German-speaking children. In Development of Verb Inflection in First Language Acquisition: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective [Studies on Language Acquisition 21], D. Bittner, W. U. Dressler & M. Kilani-Schoch (eds), 53–88. Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bybee, J. L.
1995 Regular morphology and the lexicon. Language and Cognitive Processes 10(5): 425–455. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006 Frequency of Use and the Organization of Language. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Clark, E. V.
1993 The Lexicon in Acquisition. [Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 65]. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cordes, A.-K.
2014 The Role of Frequency in Children’s Learning of Morphological Constructions. Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar
Dehe, N.
2015 Particle verbs. In Word-Formation: An International Handbook of the Languages of Europe, Vol. 1, P. Müller, I. Ohnheiser, S. Olsen & F. Rainer (eds), 611–626. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Dewell, R.
2015 The Semantics of Verb Prefixes [Human Cognitive Processing 49]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dressler, W. U., Ketrez, F. N. & Kilani-Schoch, M.
(eds) 2017 Nominal Compound Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 61]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dressler, W. U. & Korecky-Kröll, K.
2015 Evaluative morphology and language acquisition. In Edinburgh Handbook of Evaluative Morphology, N. Grandi & L. Körtvélyessy (eds), 134–141. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Dressler, W. U., Lettner, L. E. & Korecky-Kröll, K.
2010 First language acquisition of compounds with special emphasis on early German child language. In Cross-Disciplinary Issues in Compounding [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 311], S. Scalise & I. Vogel (eds), 323–344. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2012 Acquisition of German diminutive formation and compounding in a comparative perspective: Evidence for typology and the role of frequency. In Current Issues in Morphological Theory. (Ir)regularity, Analogy and Frequency [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 322], F. Kiefer, M. Ladányi & P. Siptár (eds), 237–264. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dressler, W. U., Sommer-Lolei, S., Korecky-Kröll, K., Argus, R., Dabašinskienė, I., Kamandulytė-Merfeldienė, L., Ijäs, J. J., Kazakovskaya, V. V., Laalo, K. & Thomadaki, E.
2019 First-language acquisition of synthetic compounds in Estonian, Finnish, German, Greek, Lithuanian, Russian and Saami. Morphology 29(3): 409–429. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Duden
1998 Grammatik der deutschen Gegenwartssprache (Grammar of Contemporary German). 6., neu bearbeitete Aufl. Mannheim: Dudenverlag.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, P.
2013 Das Wort. Grundriss der deutschen Grammatik (The word. An outline of German grammar), Bd. 1. 4. aktualisierte und überarbeitete Aufl. Stuttgart: Metzler.Google Scholar
Elsen, H.
1999 Ansätze zu einer funktionalistisch-kognitiven Grammatik: Konsequenzen aus Regularitäten des Erstspracherwerbs (Approaches to a functional-cognitive grammar: Consequences from regularities in first language acquisition). Tübingen: Niemeyer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 Grundzüge der Morphologie des Deutschen (Main features of German morphology). Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eschenlohr, S.
1999 Vom Nomen zum Verb: Konversion, Präfigierung und Rückbildung im Deutschen (From noun to verb: Conversion, prefixation and back formation in German) [Germanistische Linguistik Monographien 3]. Hildesheim: Olms.Google Scholar
Fleischer, W. & Barz, I.
2012 Wortbildung der deutschen Gegenwartssprache (Word formation in Contemporary German), 4. Aufl. Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gleitman, L. R., Cassidy, K., Nappa, R., Papafragou, A. & Trueswell, J. C.
2005 Hard words. Language Learning and Development 1(1): 23–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gülzow, I. & Gagarina, N.
(eds) 2007 Frequency Effects in Language Acquisition: Defining the Limits of Frequency as an Explanatory Concept. Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kauschke, C.
2012 Kindlicher Spracherwerb im Deutschen: Verläufe, Forschungsmethoden, Erklärungsansätze (Child language acquisition of German: Courses of development, research methods, explanatory approaches). Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kilani-Schoch, M. & Dressler, W. U.
2005 Morphologie naturelle et flexion du verbe français (Natural Morphology and French Verb Inflection). Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar
Klampfer, S.
2003 Emergence of verb paradigms in one Austrian child. In Development of Verb Inflection in First Language Acquisition: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective [Studies on Language Acquisition 21], D. Bittner, W. U. Dressler & M. Kilani-Schoch (eds), 297–322. Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Korecky-Kröll, K.
2011 Der Erwerb der Nominalmorphologie bei zwei Wiener Kindern: Eine Untersuchung im Rahmen der Natürlichkeitstheorie (The acquisition of noun morphology in two Viennese children: an investigation within the framework of Naturalness theory). PhD dissertation, Universität Wien.
Korecky-Kröll, K. & Dressler, W. U.
2007 Diminutives and Hypocoristics in Austrian German (AG). In The Acquisition of Diminutives: A Cross-linguistic Perspective [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 43], I. Savickienė & W. U. Dressler (eds), 207–230. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2009 The acquisition of number and case in Austrian German nouns. In Development of Nominal Inflection in First Language Acquisition: A Cross-linguistic Perspective, U. Stephany & M. Voeikova (eds), 265–302. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Korecky-Kröll, K., Sommer-Lolei, S. & Dressler, W. U.
2017 Emergence and Early Development of German Compounds. In Nominal Compound Acquisition [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 61], W. U. Dressler, F. N. Ketrez & M. Kilani-Schoch (eds), 19–37. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kühnhold, I., Putzer, O. & Wellmann, H.
1978 Deutsche Wortbildung: Das Adjektiv (German word formation. The adjective). Düsseldorf: Schwann-Bagel. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kühnhold, I. & Wellmann, H.
1973 Deutsche Wortbildung: Das Verb (German word formation. The verb). Düsseldorf: Schwann-Bagel.Google Scholar
MacWhinney, B.
2000 CHILDES Project: Tools for Analyzing Talk. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Marchman, V. A. & Bates, E.
1994 Continuity in lexical and morphological development: a test of the critical mass hypothesis. Journal of Child Language 21: 339–366. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mattes, V.
2018 Derivationsmorphologie und Wortarten im Erstspracherwerb des Deutschen. Mit einem Fokus auf dem Schuleintrittsalter (Derivational morphology and lexical categories in first language acquisition of German: focussing on the transition from preschool to school age). Habilitation thesis, Universität Graz.
McIntyre, A.
2015 Particle-verb formation. In Word-Formation: An International Handbook of the Languages of Europe, Vol. 1, P. Müller, I. Ohnheiser, S. Olsen & F. Rainer (eds), 434–449. Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meibauer, J.
1999 Über Nomen-Verb-Beziehungen im frühen Wortbildungserwerb (On noun-verb-relations in early word formation acquisition). In Das Lexikon im Spracherwerb (The lexicon in language acquisition), J. Meibauer & M. Rothweiler (eds), 184–207. Tübingen: Francke.Google Scholar
Meibauer, J., Guttropf, A. & Scherer, C.
2004 Dynamic aspects of German -er-nominals: A probe into the interrelation of language change and language acquisition. Linguistics 42(1): 155–193. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Neugebauer-Kostenblut, H.
1914 Sprachliche Eigenbildungen meines Sohnes (My son’s linguistic inventions). Zeitschrift für Kinderforschung (Journal for child research) 19: 174–181, 242–246, 362–370.Google Scholar
Plank, F.
1981 Morphologische (Ir-)Regularitäten. Aspekte der Wortstrukturtheorie (Morphological (Ir-)Regularities. Aspects of word structure theory). Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar
Rainer, F.
2010 Carmens Erwerb der deutschen Wortbildung (Carmen’s acquisition of German word formation). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Savickienė, I. & Dressler, W. U.
2007 The Acquisition of Diminutives: A Cross-linguistic Perspective [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 43]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schäfer, M.
2013 Positions and interpretations: German adverbial adjectives at the syntax-semantics interface. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schipke, C. & Kauschke, C.
2011 Early word formation in German language acquisition: A study on word formation growth during the second and third year. First Language 31(1): 67–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schulz, P., Wymann, K. & Penner, Z.
2001 The early acquisition of verb meaning in German by normally developing and language impaired children. Brain and Language 77: 407–418. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwanenflugel, P. J.
1991 Why are abstract concepts hard to understand? In The Psychology of Word Meanings, P. J. Schwanenflugel (ed.), 223–250. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Serra, M.
2014 Interfaces between language components: Bootstrapping in sensitive periods after reaching a critical mass of usage. Anuario de Psicología 44: 85–93.Google Scholar
Smolka, E. & Eulitz, C.
2018 Psycholinguistic measures for German verb pairs: Semantic transparency, semantic relatedness, verb family size, and age of reading acquisition. Behavior Research Methods 50(4): 1540–1562. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Smolka, E., Libben, G. & Dressler, W. U.
2019 When morphological structure overrides meaning: Evidence from German prefix and particle verbs. Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience 34(5): 599–614. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sommer-Lolei, S.
In preparation. Der frühe Erwerb der deutschen Wortbildung (Early acquisition of word formation in German). PhD dissertation, Universität Wien.
Sommer-Lolei, S., Korecky-Kröll, K., Christiner, M. & Dressler, W. U.
To appear. Acquisition and processing of (mor)phonotactic consonant clusters in German. In Experimental, Acquisitional and Corpus Linguistic Approaches to the Study of Morphonotactics, W. U. Dressler, B. Calderone, S. Sommer-Lolei & K. Korecky-Kröll eds Vienna Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Stern, C. & Stern, W.
1928 Die Kindersprache: Eine psychologische und sprachtheoretische Untersuchung (Child language: a psychological and language-theoretic study). Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.Google Scholar
Tomasello, M.
2003 Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Tschirner, E.
2010 Wortschatz (Lexicon). In Deutsch als Fremd- und Zweitsprache 1 (German as foreign and second language 1), H.-J. Krumm, C. Fandrych, B. Hufeisen & C. Riemer (eds), 236–245. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.Google Scholar
van der Schuit, M., Segers, E., van Balkom, H. & Verhoeven, L.
2011 How cognitive factors affect language development in children with intellectual disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities 32: 1884–1894. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wellmann, H.
1975 Deutsche Wortbildung. Das Substantiv (German word formation. The noun). Düsseldorf: Schwann-Bagel.Google Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by 2 other publications

Forshaw, William
2022. Book Review: Veronica Mattes, Sabine Sommer-Lolei, Katharina Korecky-Kröll and Wolfgang U. Dressler (Eds.), The acquisition of derivational morphology: A cross-linguistic perspective. First Language 42:5 ► pp. 696 ff. DOI logo
Korecky-Kröll, Katharina, Sabine Sommer-Lolei, Veronika Mattes & Wolfgang U. Dressler
2022. Morphological Verb Families in German-Speaking Children and Parents of Two SES Backgrounds According to a Groundbreaking Model by Dorit Ravid and Colleagues. In Developing Language and Literacy [Literacy Studies, 23], ► pp. 495 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 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.