In this study, I have tested the assumption that in child language acquisition dimensional adjectives are prototype-free by looking at the acquisition of these words by children. The results of longitudinal data from English and Dutch show that the predictions of the non-prototypicality hypothesis are disconfirmed. Children initially apply dimensional adjectives only to a restricted set of entities, most prominent of which are prototypical instantiations of the entity (e.g., 'tower' for tall). After having stored a critical mass of adjective-object pairings, children are able to make generalisations and extract spatial schemas. The findings provide support to Prefab Theory and Categorical Learning Theory, and disconfirm the predictions of Semantic Feature Theory.
2022. Incremental Processing of Prenominal Modifiers by Three-Year-Olds: Effects of Prototypicality and Contrast. In Developing Language and Literacy [Literacy Studies, 23], ► pp. 81 ff.
TRIBUSHININA, ELENA & WILLEM M. MAK
2016. Three-year-olds can predict a noun based on an attributive adjective: evidence from eye-tracking. Journal of Child Language 43:2 ► pp. 425 ff.
Tribushinina, Elena
2013. Adjective Semantics, World Knowledge and Visual Context: Comprehension of Size Terms by 2- to 7-Year-Old Dutch-Speaking Children. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 42:3 ► pp. 205 ff.
Tribushinina, Elena, Huub van den Bergh, Marianne Kilani-Schoch, Ayhan Aksu-Koç, Ineta Dabašinskienė, Gordana Hrzica, Katharina Korecky-Kröll, Sabrina Noccetti & Wolfgang Dressler
2013. The role of explicit contrast in adjective acquisition: A cross-linguistic longitudinal study of adjective production in spontaneous child speech and parental input. First Language 33:6 ► pp. 594 ff.
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