Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T14:38:15.830Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The acquisition of word-meaning for dimensional adjectives: the long and short of it*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Rebecca E. Eilers ,
D. Kimbrough Oller  and
Judy Ellington
Rebecca E. Eilers
Affiliation:
Child Development and Mental Retardation Center, University of Washington, Seattle
D. Kimbrough Oller
Affiliation:
Child Development and Mental Retardation Center, University of Washington, Seattle
Judy Ellington
Affiliation:
Child Development and Mental Retardation Center, University of Washington, Seattle
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Two experiments tested the semantic feature hypothesis with children younger than those previously studied. Two predictions were considered: (1) that order of acquisition of dimensional adjective pairs corresponds with their order of semantic generality; (2) that at an early stage of development, the marked members of dimensional pairs are interpreted as having the meaning of the unmarked members. In general, both experiments supported prediction one but failed to support prediction two. In Experiment II, a possible confounding variable (non-semantic size preference) was examined. Two general conclusions were reached: (1) that it is difficult to rule out semantically irrelevant factors (size preference) from experiments investigating the learning of dimensional adjectives; and (2) that refinements of the semantic feature theory may be necessary to accommodate individual differences (which may be age dependent) in strategies for learning dimensional adjectives.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , November 1974 , pp. 195 - 204
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anglin, J. M. (1970). The growth of word meaning. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T.Google Scholar
Bever, T. (1970). The cognitive basis of linguistic structures. In Hayes, J. R. (ed.), Cognition and the development of language. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bierwisch, M. (1967). Some semantic universals of German adjectives. FL 3. 1–36.Google Scholar
Bierwisch, M. (1970). Semantics. In Lyons, J. (ed.), New horizons in linguistics. Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Clark, E. V. (1971 a). On the acquisition of the meaning of before and after. JVLVB 10. 266–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, E. V. (1971 b). Semantic development in language acquisition. Paper presented at the Third Child Language Research Forum,Stanford University.Google Scholar
Clark, E. V. (1973). What's in a word? On the child's acquisition of semantics in his first language. In Moore, T. (ed.), Cognitive development and the acquisition of language. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Clark, H. (1969). Linguistic processes in deductive reasoning. PsychRev 76. 387–404.Google Scholar
Donaldson, M. & Balfour, G. (1968). Less is more: a study of language comprehension in children. BJPsych 59. 461–72.Google Scholar
Donaldson, M. & Wales, R. (1970). On the acquisition of some relational terms. In Hayes, J. R. (ed.), Cognition and the development of language. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Hsu, T. & Feldt, L. S. (1969). The effect of limitations of the number of criterion scores on the significance level of the F test. AmEdResJ 6. 515–27.Google Scholar
Maratsos, M. P. (1973). Decrease in the understanding of the word big in preschool children. ChD 44. 747–52.Google Scholar
McNeill, D. (1970). The acquisition of language: the study of developmental psycholinguistics. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Piaget, J. (1971). The child's conception of time. New York: Ballantine.Google Scholar
Postal, P. M. (1966). Review of A. Martinet, Elements of general linguistics. FL 2. 151–86.Google Scholar