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Learning to in complement constructions*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Lois Bloom ,
Jo Tackeff  and
Margaret Lahey
Lois Bloom
Affiliation:
Teachers College, Columbia University
Jo Tackeff
Affiliation:
Teachers College, Columbia University
Margaret Lahey
Affiliation:
Hunter College of the City University of New York
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Abstract

The acquisition of to in infinitive complement structure was examined in the spontaneous speech data from four children, who were observed longitudinally from two to three years of age. The children learned to as a complementizer connective in the context of a small group of verbs and other matrix forms that take a verb phrase complement. They did not learn to in the context of the complement verbs to mark the infinitive. Secondly, the children learned to with the meaning ‘direction towards’ and not as a meaningless syntactic marker. These results contribute to understanding the relation between the acquisition of complex syntax and the verb system in child language, and to evaluating traditional and contemporary linguistic theories of infinitive complement structure in English.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , June 1984 , pp. 391 - 406
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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Footnotes

[*]

The research reported here was supported by research grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. We thank, in particular, Vera Baviskar, Joanne Bitetti Capatides, Barbara Gartner, Patsy Lightbown and Matthew Rispoli for their critical reading of an earlier version of this manuscript; Lois Hood for her participation in the early stages of the research; Barbara Gartner, Vera Baviskar, Lisa Rodke, Takashi Yamomoto and Carol Mangano for assistance in processing portions of the data; and Karin Lifter for helpful advice. We are grateful to the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, for the context and assistance provided for the final preparation of the manuscript, and to the Spencer Foundation for their financial support. Address for correspondence: Lois Bloom, Box 5, Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 West 120th St, New York, NY 10027.

References

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