Article published in:
The Acquisition of Reference
Edited by Ludovica Serratrice and Shanley E.M. Allen
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 15] 2015
► pp. 51–82

Mapping information structure and word order

The acquisition of object placement

This chapter focuses on the acquisition of the interplay between information structure and word order. We address the acquisition of Object Verb-Verb Object (OV-VO) alternations in Russian, Serbo-Croatian, and Ukrainian, object scrambling in German and Dutch, and object shift in Norwegian and Swedish. Acquiring these phenomena does not simply involve the acquisition of a movement operation; children have to acquire the semantic/pragmatic aspects influencing object displacement, as well as how these aspects interact with syntax. Neither the syntax nor the semantics/pragmatics per se makes such phenomena hard to acquire. Rather, mapping information structure onto syntax is challenging. System complexity and low input frequencies also contribute to acquisition delays. This chapter focuses on recent insights into the acquisition of object displacement, and indicates potential directions for future research.
Keywords: acquisition, information structure, object scrambling, object shift, OV-VO
Published online: 25 November 2015
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.15.03ben
References

References

Anderssen, M., & Bentzen, K.
(2011)  Scandinavian object shift reanalyzed as TP-internal topicalization . Paper presented at the Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop (CGSW) 26, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
(2012) Norwegian object shift as IP-internal topicalization. Nordlyd, 39(1), 1–23. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Anderssen, M., Bentzen, K., & Rodina, Y.
(2012) Topicality and complexity in the acquisition of Norwegian object shift. Language Acquisition, 19(1), 39–72. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Anderssen, M., Bentzen, K., Rodina, Y., & Westergaard, M.
(2010) The acquisition of apparent optionality: Word order in subject and object shift constructions in Norwegian. In M. Anderssen, K. Bentzen, & M. Westergaard (Eds.), Variation in the input: Studies in the acquisition of word order (pp. 241–270). New York, NY: Springer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Andréasson, M.
(2008) Not all objects are born alike – accessibility as a key to pronominal object shift in Swedish and Danish. In M. Butt & T. Holloway King (Eds.), Proceedings of the LFG08 Conference (pp. 26–45). Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
(2009) Pronominal object shift – not just a matter of shifting or not. Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax, 84, 1–20.Google Scholar
(2010) Object shift or object placement in general. In M. Butt & T. Holloway King (Eds.), Proceedings of the LFG10 Conference (pp. 26–42). Stanford, CA: CSLI Publications.Google Scholar
Avrutin, S., & Brun, D.
(2001) The expression of specificity in a language without determiners: Evidence from child Russian. In A. Do, L. Dominguez, & A. Johansen (Eds.), Proceedings of the 25th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 70–81). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Bailyn, J.F.
(2001) On scrambling: A reply to Bošković and Takahashi. Linguistic Inquiry, 32(4), 635–658. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2003) Does Russian scrambling exist? In S. Karimi (Ed.), Word order and scrambling (pp. 156–176). Oxford: Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Barbier, I.
(2000) An experimental study of scrambling and object shift in the acquisition of Dutch. In S.M. Powers & C. Hamann (Eds.), The acquisition of scrambling and cliticization (pp. 41–69). Dordrecht: Kluwer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bentzen, K.
(2013) Object shift. Nordic Atlas of Linguistic Structures (NALS). Accessed April 21, 2015, at http://​www​.tekstlab​.uio​.no​/nals
Bentzen, K., Anderssen, M., & Waldmann, C.
(2013) Object shift in spoken Mainland Scandinavian: A corpus study of Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish. Nordic Journal of Linguistics, 36(2), 115–151. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bošković, Ž. & Takahashi, D.
(1998) Scrambling and Last Resort. Linguistic Inquiry, 29(3), 347–366. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bošković, Ž.
(2004) Topicalization, focalization, lexical insertion, and scrambling. Linguistic Inquiry, 35(4), 613–638. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cinque, G.
(1999) Adverbs and functional heads: A cross-linguistic perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Corver, N., & van Riemsdijk, H.
(1994) Introduction: Approaches to and properties of scrambling. In N. Corver & H. van Riemsdijk (Eds.), Studies on scrambling: Movement and non-movement approaches to free word-order phenomena (pp. 1–15). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
de Hoop, H.
(2000) Optional scrambling and interpretation. In H. Bennis, M. Everaert, & E. Reuland (Eds.), Interface strategies (pp. 153–168). Amsterdam: Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW).Google Scholar
(2003) Scrambling in Dutch: Optionality and optimality. In S. Karimi (Ed.), Word order and scrambling (pp. 201–216). Oxford: Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
de Hoop, H., & Krämer, I.
(2005/2006) Children’s optimal interpretations of indefinite subjects and objects. Language Acquisition, 13(2), 103–123. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Deen, K.U.
(2006) Object agreement and specificity in early Swahili. Journal of Child Language, 33(2), 223–246. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Diesing, M.
(1992) Indefinites. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Dyakonova, M.
(2004) Information structure development: Evidence from acquisition of word order in Russian and English. Nordlyd: Tromsø Working Papers on Language and Linguistics, 32(1), 88–109.Google Scholar
Enç, M.
(1991) The semantics of specificity. Linguistic Inquiry, 22(1), 1–25.Google Scholar
Grewendorf, G., & Sternefeld, W.
(1990) Scrambling theories. In G. Grewendorf & W. Sternefeld (Eds.), Scrambling and barriers (pp. 3–37). Amsterdam: Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Haider, H.
(2005) Mittelfeld phenomena (scrambling in Germanic). In M. Everaert & H. van Riemsdijk (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to syntax (Vol. 2, pp. 668–699). Malden, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Haverkort, M., & Weissenborn, J.
(2000) Parameters and cliticization in early child German. In S.M. Powers & C. Hamann (Eds.), The acquisition of scrambling and cliticization (pp. 71–93). Dordrecht: Kluwer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hinterhölzl, R.
(2004) Scrambling, optionality and non-lexical triggers. In A. Breitbarth & H. van Riemsdijk (Eds.), Triggers (pp. 173–203). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hoekstra, T., & Jordens, P.
(1994) From adjunct to head. In T. Hoekstra & B.D. Schwartz (Eds.), Language acquisition studies in generative grammar (pp. 119–149). Amsterdam: Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Holmberg, A.
(1986) Word order and syntactic features in the Scandinavian languages and English. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Stockholm, Sweden.
(1999) Remarks on Holmberg’s generalization. Studia Linguistica, 53(1), 1–39. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2000) Deriving OV order in Finnish. In P. Svenonius (Ed.), The derivation of VO and OV (pp. 123–152). Amsterdam: Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Holmberg, A., & Platzack, C.
(1995) The role of inflection in Scandinavian syntax. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ilić, T., & Deen, K.U.
(2004) Object raising and cliticization in Serbo-Croatian child language. In A. van Kampen & S. Baauw (Eds.), Proceedings of GALA 2003 (pp. 235–243). Utrecht: LOT.Google Scholar
Josefsson, G.
(1996) The acquisition of object shift in Swedish child language. In C.E. Johnson & J.H.V. Gilbert (Eds.), Children’s language 9 (pp. 153–165). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
(2003) Four myths of object shift … and the truth. In L.-O. Delsing, C. Falk, G. Josefsson, & H. Sigurðsson (Eds.), Grammar in focus, Vol. 2: Festschrift for Christer Platzack (pp. 199–207). Lund, Sweden: Department of Scandinavian Languages, Lund University.Google Scholar
(2010) Object shift and optionality: An intricate interplay between syntax, prosody and information structure. Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax, 86, 1–24.Google Scholar
Junghanns, U., & Zybatow, G.
(1995) Syntax and information structure of Russian clauses. In W. Browne (Ed.), Formal approaches to Slavic linguistics 4 (pp. 289–319). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Karimi, S.
(2003) On object positions, specificity, and scrambling in Persian. In S. Karimi (Ed.), Word order and scrambling (pp. 91–124). Oxford: Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2005) A minimalist approach to scrambling: Evidence from Persian. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kornfilt, J.
(2003) Scrambling, subscrambling and Case in Turkish. In S. Karimi (Ed.), Word order and scrambling (pp. 125–155). Oxford: Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Krämer, I.
(2000) Interpreting indefinites: An experimental study of children’s language comprehension (Doctoral dissertation, Utrecht University). Nijmegen, NL: MPI Series in Psycholinguistics.Google Scholar
Mikkelsen, L.
(2011) On prosody and focus in object shift. Syntax, 14(3), 230–264. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Müller, N., & Hulk, A.
(2000) Bilingual first language acquisition at the interface between syntax and pragmatics. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 3(3), 227–244. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mykhaylyk, R.
(2009) The role of semantic features in scrambling. In M. Bowles, T. Ionin, S. Montrul, & A. Tremblay (Eds.), Proceedings of the 10th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA 2009) (pp. 157–167). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
(2012) Factors contributing to child scrambling: Evidence from Ukrainian. Journal of Child Language, 39(3), 553–579. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2013) Bilinguals vs. monolinguals: Where is the difference? Studia Linguistica, 67(1), 101–122. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mykhaylyk, R. & Ko, H.
(2010) Optional scrambling is not random: Evidence from English-Ukranian acquisition. In M. Anderssen, K. Bentzen & M. Westergaard (Eds.), Variation in the input: Studies in the acquisition of word order (pp. 207–240). Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Penner, Z., Schönenberger, M., & Weissenborn, J.
(1994) The acquisition of object placement in early German and Swiss German. Linguistics in Potsdam, 1, 93–108.Google Scholar
Penner, Z., Tracy, R., & Weissenborn, J.
(2000) Where scrambling begins: Triggering object scrambling at the early stage in German and Bernese Swiss German. In S.M. Powers & C. Hamann (Eds.), The acquisition of scrambling and cliticization (pp. 127–165). Dordrecht: Kluwer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Platzack, C.
(1996) The initial hypothesis of syntax: A minimalist perspective on language acquisition and attrition. In H. Clahsen (Ed.), Generative perspectives on language acquisition: Empirical findings, theoretical considerations, and crosslinguistic comparisons (pp. 369–414). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Schaeffer, J.
(2000a) The acquisition of direct object scrambling and clitic placement: Syntax and pragmatics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2000b) Object scrambling and specificity in Dutch child language. In S.M. Powers & C. Hamann (Eds.), The acquisition of scrambling and cliticization (pp. 71–95). Dordrecht: Kluwer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sekerina, I.A.
(1997) The syntax and processing of scrambling constructions in Russian. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). City University of New York, NY.
(2003) Scrambling and processing: Dependencies, complexity, and constraints. In S. Karimi (Ed.), Word order and scrambling (pp. 301–324). Oxford: Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Serratrice, L., Sorace, A., & Paoli, S.
(2004) Crosslinguistic influence at the syntax-pragmatics interface: Subjects and objects in English-Italian bilingual and monolingual acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 7(3), 183–206. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sorace, A.
(2011) Pinning down the concept of “interface” in bilinguals. Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism, 1(1), 1–33. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sorace, A., & Filiaci, F.
(2006) Anaphora resolution in near-native speakers of Italian. Second Language Research, 22(3), 339–368. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Stromswold, K.
(1995) The acquisition of subject and object wh-questions. Language Acquisition, 4(1/2), 5–48. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Thráinsson, H.
(2001) Object shift and scrambling. In M. Baltin & C. Collins (Eds.), The handbook of contemporary syntactic theory (pp. 148–202). Oxford: Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Unsworth. S.
(2005) Child L2, adult L2, child L1: Differences and similarities: A study on the acquisition of direct object scrambling in Dutch (Doctoral dissertation, Utrecht University). Utrecht, NL: LOT.Google Scholar
Vikner, S.
(1994) Scandinavian object shift and West Germanic scrambling. In N. Corver & H. van Riemsdijk (Eds.), Studies on scrambling (pp. 487–517). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2006) Object shift. In M. Everaert & H. van Riemsdijk (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to syntax (Volume 3, pp. 392–436). Oxford: Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Vilkuna, M.
(1989) Free word order in Finnish. Helsinki: SKS.Google Scholar
(1995) Discourse configurationality in Finnish. In K. É. Kiss (Ed.), Discourse configurational languages (pp. 244–268). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Westergaard, M.
(2009) Acquisition of word order: Micro-cues, information structure, and economy. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar