1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910972649703321

Autore

Westergaard Marit R (Marit Richardsen)

Titolo

The acquisition of word order : micro-cues, information structure, and economy / / Marit Westergaard

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Philadelphia, PA ; ; Amsterdam, : John Benjamins Pub. Company, c2009

ISBN

9786612312274

9781282312272

1282312278

9789027289346

9027289344

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xii, 245 pages) : illustrations

Collana

Linguistik aktuell/linguistics today, , 0166-0829 ; ; v. 145

Disciplina

439.8/282421

Soggetti

Norwegian language - Word order

Norwegian language - Acquisition

Grammar, Comparative and general - Word order

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Acknowledgements -- Preliminaries -- Word order variation and the structure of the target language -- The syntax of V2 and a model of micro-cues -- The input -- The acquisition of word order in non-subject-initial declaratives -- The acquisition of word order in subject-initial declaratives -- The acquisition of word order in wh-questions -- The acquisition of word order in yes/no-questions -- The acquisition of word order in non-V2 contexts -- Micro-cues, information structure, and economy -- References -- Appendix -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

Within a new model of language acquisition, this book discusses verb second (V2) word order in situations where there is variation in the input. While traditional generative accounts consider V2 to be a parameter, this study shows that, in many languages, this word order is dependent on fine distinctions in syntax and information structure. Thus, within a split-CP model of clause structure, a number of micro-cues are formulated, taking into account the specific context for V2 vs. non-V2 (clause type, subcategory of the elements involved, etc.). The micro-cues are produced in children's I-language grammars on



exposure to the relevant input. Focusing on a dialect of Norwegian, the book shows that children generally produce target-consistent V2 and non-V2 from early on, indicating that they are sensitive to the micro-cues. This includes contexts where word order is dependent on information structure. The children's occasional non-target-consistent behavior is accounted for by economy principles.