Chapter published in:
The Acquisition of Referring Expressions: A dialogical approachEdited by Anne Salazar-Orvig, Geneviève de Weck, Rouba Hassan and Annie Rialland
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 28] 2021
► pp. 42–80
Chapter 2Filler syllables as precursors of referring expressions
Naomi Yamaguchi | Laboratoire de Phonétique et Phonologie
Anne Salazar Orvig | Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3
Marine Le Mené | Université de du Québec à Montréal
Stéphanie Caët | Université de Lille
Annie Rialland | 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
- 3.1Specific phonological properties of fillers
- 4.Functional dimensions of filler syllables
- 5.Discussion and conclusion
-
Acknowledgements -
Notes -
References
Published online: 16 June 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.28.02yam
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.28.02yam
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