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The Acquisition of Referring Expressions: A dialogical approach
Edited by Anne Salazar-Orvig, Geneviève de Weck, Rouba Hassan and Annie Rialland
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 28] 2021
► pp. 42–80

Chapter 2
Filler syllables as precursors of referring expressions

ORCID logo | Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie
ORCID logo | Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
ORCID logo | Université de du Québec à Montréal
ORCID logo | Université de Lille
ORCID logo | Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie

In this chapter, we examine the properties of filler syllables as transition forms in the development of referring expressions. In particular, we hypothesize that fillers are precursors of referring expressions. We focus on the distribution, the phonological form and the referential function of fillers in prenominal and/or preverbal positions, in comparison to others forms in these positions. Results show that first, the substantial presence of fillers does not lie in lexical factors, and that they are used in combination with other prelexical forms. Second, their variable realizations are not due to a phonological deficit, and they also exhibit paradigmatic patterning with the use of specific consonants. Fillers also share some of the functional characteristics of grammatical units, since their distribution and presence suggest that they play a role in the construction of the verbal and nominal categories. Moreover, in the preverbal position, children’s use of fillers varies according to the topic of the utterance. In conclusion, filler syllables exhibit the formal and functional characteristics of a transitional category and an adult-like paradigm of referring expressions at the same time, and should be studied as such.

Keywords: filler syllables, referential expressions, prenominal position, preverbal position, first grammatical units, phonological form, distributional factors, referential function
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Fillers in the context of the development of referring expressions
    • 1.2Construction of the pronoun and determiner categories
      • 1.2.1Positional and distributional factors in the emergence of pronouns and determiners
      • 1.2.2Semantic and pragmatic factors in the emergence of pronouns and determiners
    • 1.3Corpora used and outline of this chapter
  • 2.Prenominal and preverbal forms at the onset of language production
    • 2.1Identifying the forms
    • 2.2Results
    • 2.3Discussion and tentative conclusion
  • 3.Formal and distributional properties of filler syllables
    • 3.1Specific phonological properties of fillers
      • 3.1.1Method
      • 3.1.2Results
        • 3.1.2.1Accurate realizations of consonants and consonant harmonies
        • 3.1.2.2Inaccurate realizations of consonants in lexemes and in prelexical forms
      • 3.1.3Discussion and tentative conclusion
    • 3.2Are fillers lexically specific?
      • 3.2.1Coding
      • 3.2.2Results
    • 3.3Tentative conclusion
  • 4.Functional dimensions of filler syllables
  • 5.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 16 June 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.28.02yam
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