Chapter published in:
Diverse Scenarios of Syntactic Complexity
Edited by Albert Álvarez González, Zarina Estrada-Fernández and Claudine Chamoreau
[Typological Studies in Language 126] 2019
► pp. 53–83

Constructional grounding in emerging complexity

Early comp-que constructions in Spanish acquisition

| Universidad Nacional Autónoma de | Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas
A constructional grounding view to emerging complexity is based on the assumption that components of complex constructions may be used as free clauses before they are integrated into a complex frame. In child language development, constructional grounding has already been tested with positive results for some simple frames: passives and existential constructions. This chapter extends this view to complex sentence formation in early acquisition of Spanish. The analysis focuses on data pointing to a possible grounding relation between main clauses with lexical uses of future complement-taking verbs, and free, insubordinated clause constructions marked by comp-que. Children have access to and may learn these independent frames from parental models. Evidence of constructional grounding is presented: Chronological, distributional and functional results point to a grounding relation between free uses of these components and complex sentences that integrate them. The paper adds to synchronic and diachronic analysis of emerging complexity, and brings developmental evidence on how children integrate earlier and independently learned clausal construction frames.
Keywords: complex constructions, constructional grounding, insubordination, free - constructions, complement-taking verbs
Published online: 04 July 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.126.03nie
References

References

Abbot-Smith, Kirsten & Behrens, Heike
2006 How known constructions influence the acquisition of other constructions: The German passive and future constructions. Cognitive Science 30(6): 995–1026. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Aguirre, Carmen
2000 [1994] La adquisición de las categorías gramaticales del español. PhD dissertation, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.Google Scholar
Ambridge, Ben & Lieven, Elena
2011 Child Language Acquisition. Contrasting Theoretical Approaches. Cambridge: CUP. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bannard, Colin, Lieven, Elena & Tomasello, Michael
2009 Modeling children’s early grammatical knowledge. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106(41): 17284–17289. : CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Barreña, Andoni
1994 Sobre la adquisición de la categoría funcional comp por niños vascos. In La adquisición del vasco y del castellano en niños bilingües, Jurgen Meisel (ed.), 231–284. Frankfurt: Vervuert-Iberoamericana. http://​dialnet​.unirioja​.es​/servlet​/articulo​?codigo​=2007290)Google Scholar
1999 La adquisición de estructuras subordinadas por un niño bilingüe vasco-español, Lingüística para el siglo XXI. III Congreso organizado por el Departamento de Lengua Española, 277–286. Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca. http://​dialnet​.unirioja​.es​/servlet​/libro​?codigo​=386Google Scholar
Bloom, Lois, Lahey, Margaret, Hood, Lois, Lifter, Karin & Fiess, Kathleen
1991[1980] Complex sentences: Acquisition of syntactic connectives and the semantic relations they encode. In Language Development from Two to Three, Lois Bloom, 261–289. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Bod, Rens
2009 From exemplar to grammar: A probabilistic analogy-based model of language learning. Cognitive Science 33(5): 752–793. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Brandt, Silke, Verhagen, Arie, Lieven, Elena & Tomasello, Michel
2011 German children’s productivity with simple transitive and complement-clause constructions: Testing the effects of frequency and diversity. Cognitive Linguistics 22(2): 325–357. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Braunwald, Susan R.
1997 The development of because and so: Connecting language, thought, and social understanding. In Processing Interclausal Relationships: Studies in the Production and Comprehension of Text, Jean Costermans & Michel Fayol (eds), 121–137. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Bybee, Joan L. & Hopper, Paul J.
2001 Introduction to frequency and the emergence of linguistic structure. In Frequency and the Emergence of Linguistic Structure [Typological Studies in Language 45], Joan Bybee & Paul M. Hopper (eds), 1–24. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Coseriu, Eugenio
1976 Das Romanische Verbal system. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.Google Scholar
Culicover, Peter W.
1999 Syntactic Nuts. Hard Cases, Syntactic Theory, and Language Acquisition. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Dąbrowska, Eva & Lieven, Elena
2005 Towards a lexically specific grammar of children’s question constructions. Cognitive Linguistics 16(3): 437–474. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Demonte, Violeta & Fernández-Soriano, Olga
2009 Force and finiteness in the Spanish complementizer system. Probus 21: 23–49. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Diessel, Holger
2004 The Acquisition of Complex Sentences. Cambridge: CUP. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Diessel, Holger & Tomasello, Michael
2000a The development of relative constructions in early child speech. Cognitive Linguistics 11: 131–152.Google Scholar
2000b Why complement clauses do not include a that-complementizer in early child language. In Proceedings of the 25th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, Jeff Good & Alan C. L. Yu (eds), 86–97. Berkeley CA: BLS.Google Scholar
2001 The acquisition of finite complement clauses in English: A corpus-based analysis. Cognitive Linguistics 12(2): 97–141. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Du Bois, John W.
2014 Towards dialogic syntax. Cognitive Linguistics 25(3): 359–410Google Scholar
Elman, Jeffrey L.
1990 Finding structure in time. Cognitive Science 14(2): 179–211. doi: Crossref.Google Scholar
Elman. Jeffrey L.
1993 Learning and development in neural networks: The importance of starting small. Cognition 48(1): 71–99. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Elman, Jeffrey, Bates, Elizabeth, Johnson, Mark H., Karmiloff-Smith, Annette, Parisi, Domenico & Plunkett, Kim
1996 Rethinking Innateness. A Connectionist Perspective on Development. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Enfield, Nicholas J. & Sidnell, Jack
2014 Language presupposes an enchronic infrastructure for social interaction. In The Social Origins of Language: Studies in the Evolution of Language, Daniel Dor, Chris Knight & Jerome Lewis (eds), 99–104. Oxford: OUP. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Nicholas
2007 Insubordination and its uses. In Finiteness: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations, Irina Nikolaeva (ed.), 366–431. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Evers-Vermeul, Jacqueline
2005 The Development of Dutch Connectives: Change and Acquisition as Windows on Form-Function Relations. Utrecht: Utrecht University.Google Scholar
Evers-Vermeul, Jacqueline & Sanders, Ted
2011 Discovering domains. On the acquisition of causal connectives. Journal of Pragmatics 43(6): 1645–1662. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ezeizabarrena Segurola, María José
1997 Infinitivos verbales en el lenguaje de niños bilingües. In Views on the Acquisition and Use of a Second Language: Eurosla’7 Proceedings, Lourdes Díaz & Carmen Pérez (eds), 177–190. Barcelona: Universidad Pompeu Fabra.Google Scholar
2002 Root infinitives in two pro-drop languages. In Acquisition of Spanish Morphosyntax, Ana Teresa Pérez-Leroux & Juana M. Liceras (eds), 35–65. Amsterdam: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Fillmore, Charles J.
1988 The mechanisms of “construction grammar”. Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society 14: 35–55. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Frank, Stefan L., Bod, Rens & Christiansen, Morten H.
2012 How hierarchical is language use? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, rspb20121741. rspb​.royalsocietypublishing​.org (24 August, 2013). CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Freudenthal, Daniel, Pine, Julian & Gobet, Fernand
2010 Explaining quantitative variation in the rate of optional infinitive errors across languages: A comparison of MOSAIC and the Variational Learning Model. Journal of Child Language 37(3): 643–669. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Gast, Volker & Diessel, Holger
2012 The typology of clause linkage: Status quo, challenges, prospects. In Clause Linkage in Cross-linguistic Perspective: Data-driven Approaches to Cross-clausal Syntax, Volker Gast & Holger Diessel (eds), 1–36. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Gili Gaya, Samuel
1983 Curso superior de sintaxis española. Barcelona, España: Bibliograf.Google Scholar
Givón, T.
1979 On Understanding Grammar. New York NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
2009 The ontogeny of complex verb phrases. In Syntactic Complexity. Diachrony, Acquisition, Neuro-cognition, Evolution [Typological Studies in Language 85], T. Givón & Masayoshi Shibatani (eds), 311–387. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Goldberg, Adele
1995 Constructions: A Construction Grammar Approach to Argument Structure . Chicago IL: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
2006 Constructions at Work: The Nature of Generalizations in Language. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Gras, Pedro
2011 Gramática de construcciones en interacción: Propuesta de un modelo y aplicación al análisis de estructuras independientes con marcas de subordinación en español. PhD dissertation, Universitat de Barcelona.Google Scholar
2013 Entre la gramática y el discurso: Valores conectivos de que inicial átono en español. In Autour de que/El entorno de que, Daniel Jacob & Katja Ploog (eds), 89–112. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd & Kuteva, Tania
2007 The Genesis of Grammar. A Reconstruction. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Israel, Michael, Johnson, Christopher & Brooks, Patricia J.
2000 From states to events. The acquisition of English passive participles. Cognitive Linguistics 11(1–2): 103–129.Google Scholar
Johnson, Christopher
1999 Constructional Grounding: The Role of Interpretational Overlap in Lexical and Constructional Acquisition. PhD dissertation, University of California, Berkeley CA.Google Scholar
2001 Constructional grounding: On the relation between deictic and existential there-constructions in acquisition. In Conceptual and Discourse Factors in Linguistic Structure, Alan J. Cienki, Barbara J. Luka & Michael B. Smith (eds), 123–136. Stanford CA: CSLI.Google Scholar
Kidd, Evan, Brandt, Silke, Lieven, Elena & Tomasello, Michael
2007 Object relatives made easy: A cross-linguistic comparison of the constraints influencing young children’s processing of relative clauses. Language and Cognitive Processes 22: 860–897. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Köymen, Bahar & Kyratzis, Amy
2014 Dialogic syntax and complement constructions in toddlers’ peer interactions. Cognitive Linguistics 25: 497–521. doi: CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kyratzis, Amy, Guo, Jiansheng & Ervin-Tripp, Susan M.
1990 Pragmatic conventions influencing children’s use of causal constructions in natural discourse. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society 16: 205–214. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Langacker, Ronald W.
2000 A dynamic usage-based model. In Usage-based Models of Language, Michael Barlow & Suzanne Kemmer (eds), 1–63. Stanford CA: CSLI.Google Scholar
Lehmann, Christian
1988 Towards a typology of clause linkage. In Clause Combining in Grammar and Discourse [Typological Studies in Language 18], John Haiman & Sandra A. Thompson (eds), 181–225. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Levinson, Stephen C.
2006 On the human ‘interactional engine’. In Roots of Human Sociality. Culture, Cognition and Human Interaction, Nicholas J. Enfield & Stephen C. Levinson (eds), 29–69. Oxford: Berg.Google Scholar
Lieven, Elena
2006 Producing multiword utterances. In Constructions in Acquisition, Eve V. Clark & Barbara Kelly (eds), 83–110. Stanford CA: CSLI.Google Scholar
2008 Learning the English auxiliary: A usage-based approach. In Trends in Corpus Research: Finding Structure in Data [Trends in Language Acquisition Research 6], Heike Behrens (ed.), 61–98. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Lieven, Elena, Behrens, Heike, Speares, Jennifer & Tomasello, Michael
2003 Early syntactic creativity: A usage-based approach. Journal of Child Language 30: 333–370. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Lieven, Elena, Salomo, Dorothé & Tomasello, Michael
2009 Two-year-old children's production of multiword utterances: A usage-based analysis. Cognitive Linguistics 20(3): 481–507. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Luna-Traill, Elizabeth
1980 Sintaxis de los verboides en el habla culta de la ciudad de México. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Google Scholar
Mithun, Marianne
2008 The extensión of dependency beyond the sentence. Language 84(1): 69–119. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Montolío, Estrella
1999 ¡Si nunca he dicho que estuviera enamorada de él! Sobre construcciones independientes introducidas por si con valor replicativo. Oralia 2: 37–70.Google Scholar
Moreno de Alba, José G.
1978 Valores de las formas verbales en el español de México. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Google Scholar
Newport, Elissa L.
1990 Maturation constraints on language learning. Cognitive Science 14: 11–28. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ninio, Anat
2001 Pragmatic keywords and first combining verbs. First Language 21(3): 433–460. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ochs, Elinor, Schieffelin, Bambi B. & Platt, Martha L.
1979 Propositions across utterances and speakers. In Developmental Pragmatics, Elinor Ochs & Bambi B. Schieffelin (eds), 251–268. New York NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Ochs, Elinor, Schegloff, Emanuel A. & Thompson, Sandra A.
(eds) 1996 Interaction and grammar. Cambridge: CUP. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Pons Bordería, Salvador
2003  Que inicial átono como marca de modalidad. Estudios de Lingüística 17: 531–545.Google Scholar
Porroche Ballesteros, Margarita
2000 Algunos aspectos del uso de que en el español conversacional (que como introductor de oraciones ‘independientes’). Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación 3. https://​dialnet​.unirioja​.es​/servlet​/articulo​?codigo​=276219​&orden​=0​&info​=link (15 August 2013).Google Scholar
Rodríguez Ramalle, Teresa María
2008 Estudio sintáctico y discursivo de algunas estructuras enunciativas y citativas del español. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada 21: 269–288.Google Scholar
Rojas-Nieto, Cecilia
1992 La pregunta en la construcción del diálogo: Funciones constructivas de las preguntas a los niños pequeños. Revista de Lingüística Aplicada 15-16: 182–198.Google Scholar
2003 Early acquisition of verb inflexion in Spanish. A usage-based account. Psychology of Language and Communication 7(2): 33–56.Google Scholar
2007 La base de datos ETAL: Etapas tempranas en la adquisición del lenguaje. Origen, descripción y metas de un proyecto. Jornadas Filológicas 2005. 575–599. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Google Scholar
Rojas-Nieto Cecilia
2009a Starting small effects in the acquisition of early relative constructions in Spanish. In The Genesis of Syntactic Complexity. Diachrony, Acquisition, Neuro-cognition, Evolution [Typological Studies in Language 85], T. Givón & Masayoshi Shibatani (eds), 277–310. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Rojas-Nieto, Cecilia
2009b Before grammar. Cut and paste in early complex sentences. In Hispanic Child Languages. Typical and Impaired Development [Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 50], John Grinstead (ed.), 143–174. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Sansiñena, María Sol
2015 The Multiple Functional Load of que. An Interactional Approach to Insubordinate Complement Clauses in Spanish. PhD dissertation, Catholic University Leuven.Google Scholar
Sansiñena, María Sol, De Smet, Hendrick & Cornillie, Bert
2015 Between subordinate and insubordinate. Paths toward complementizer-initial main clauses. Journal of Pragmatics 7: 3–19. < Crossref>Google Scholar
Serrat, Elisabet & Aparici, Melina
2001 Morphological errors in early language acquisition: Evidence from Catalan and Spanish. In Research on Child Language Acquisition, Margareta Almgrem, Andoni Barreña, Ma. José Ezeizabarrena, Itziar Idiazábal & Brian MacWhinney (eds), 1260–1277. Somerville MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Sheridan, Guillermo
2007 Quijote furioso. Paralelos y Meridianos, 11–33. México: Pértiga.Google Scholar
Slobin, Dan I.
1985 Why study language crosslinguistically? In The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition, Vol. 1: The Data, Dan I. Slobin (ed.), 3–24. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Tomasello, Michael
1992 First Verbs: A Case Study of Early Grammatical Development. Cambridge: CUP. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2000 The item based nature of children's early syntactic development. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 4: 156–163. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2003 Constructing a Language. A Usage-based Child Language Acquisition. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
2006 Acquiring linguistic constructions. In Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 2: Cognition, Perception and Language, William Damon, Richard M. Learner, Deanna Kuhn, Robert Siegler (eds), 255–298. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2008 Origins of Human Communication. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Van Veen, Rosie, Evers-Vermeul, Jacqueline, Sanders, Ted & Van Den Bergh, Huub
2009 Parental input and connective acquisition: Growth curve analysis. First Language 29: 266–288. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2013 The influence of input on connective acquisition: A growth curve analysis of English because and German weil . Journal of Child Language 40: 1003–1031. DOI: CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Varela Cortés, Vianey
2006 Interacción y diálogo en la adquisición de las construcciones introducidas por pero . MA dissertation, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Google Scholar
2011 El nicho discursivo de las construcciones con pero en la adquisición temprana del español. In Interacción y uso lingüístico en el desarrollo de la lengua materna, Cecilia Rojas-Nieto & Donna Jackson-Maldonado (eds), 173–208. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by other publications

Álvarez González, Albert
2019.  In Diverse Scenarios of Syntactic Complexity [Typological Studies in Language, 126], ► pp. 217 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 06 january 2021. 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.