Abstract
Studies of English and French show that children's first articles are more likely to appear when they can be prosodified as part of a disyllabic foot (cf. Gerken, 1996; Demuth & Tremblay, 2008). However, preliminary studies of Spanish suggest that children's first articles appear in larger prosodic structures, possibly due to the higher frequency of longer words. To assess this issue, this study examined longitudinal data from two Spanish 1- to 2-year-olds. As expected, both produced their early articles with monosyllabic and disyllabic nouns, rapidly expanding article use to trisyllabic nouns as well. The results suggest that the prosodic complexity of the lexicon plays an important role in the development of prosodic structure, providing the context for early prosodic licensing of grammatical morphemes.
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 17-37 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | First Language |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2012 |
Fingerprint
Cite this
}
The development of articles in children's early Spanish : prosodic interactions between lexical and grammatical form. / Demuth, Katherine; Patrolia, Meghan; Song, Jae Yung; Masapollo, Matthew.
In: First Language, Vol. 32, No. 1-2, 02.2012, p. 17-37.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - The development of articles in children's early Spanish
T2 - First Language
AU - Demuth, Katherine
AU - Patrolia, Meghan
AU - Song, Jae Yung
AU - Masapollo, Matthew
PY - 2012/2
Y1 - 2012/2
N2 - Studies of English and French show that children's first articles are more likely to appear when they can be prosodified as part of a disyllabic foot (cf. Gerken, 1996; Demuth & Tremblay, 2008). However, preliminary studies of Spanish suggest that children's first articles appear in larger prosodic structures, possibly due to the higher frequency of longer words. To assess this issue, this study examined longitudinal data from two Spanish 1- to 2-year-olds. As expected, both produced their early articles with monosyllabic and disyllabic nouns, rapidly expanding article use to trisyllabic nouns as well. The results suggest that the prosodic complexity of the lexicon plays an important role in the development of prosodic structure, providing the context for early prosodic licensing of grammatical morphemes.
AB - Studies of English and French show that children's first articles are more likely to appear when they can be prosodified as part of a disyllabic foot (cf. Gerken, 1996; Demuth & Tremblay, 2008). However, preliminary studies of Spanish suggest that children's first articles appear in larger prosodic structures, possibly due to the higher frequency of longer words. To assess this issue, this study examined longitudinal data from two Spanish 1- to 2-year-olds. As expected, both produced their early articles with monosyllabic and disyllabic nouns, rapidly expanding article use to trisyllabic nouns as well. The results suggest that the prosodic complexity of the lexicon plays an important role in the development of prosodic structure, providing the context for early prosodic licensing of grammatical morphemes.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859582067&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0142723710396796
DO - 10.1177/0142723710396796
M3 - Article
VL - 32
SP - 17
EP - 37
JO - First Language
JF - First Language
SN - 0142-7237
IS - 1-2
ER -