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More on the acquisition of locative prepositions: an analysis of Hebrew data*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Esther Dromi
Esther Dromi
Affiliation:
University of Kansas
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Abstract

The use of locative prepositions by Hebrew-speaking children aged 2; 0–3; 0, was investigated in a cross-sectional study. Thirty kibbutz children served as subjects. The spontaneous utterances of each child were analyzed and scored for the frequency with which the child supplied obligatory contexts for locative expressions as well as for appropriate use. The findings suggest the following order of acquisition: be- ‘in’; le- ‘to’; le+ pronominal suffixes ‘to’ (dative); al ‘on’; le ‘to’ (directional); mi- ‘from’; al-yad ‘beside’; meaxorey ‘behind’; mitaxat le- ‘under’. The role of formal linguistic complexity in determining that order is discussed. Special reference is made to the contrast between enclitic prefix prepositions and separate word prepositions that express the same locative notions.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , October 1979 , pp. 547 - 562
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

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Footnotes

[*]

I am extremely grateful to Dr Melissa Bowerman, the Bureau of Child Research, University of Kansas, and Dr Ruth Berman, Department of Linguistics, Tel Aviv University, Israel, for their valuable criticisms of the early drafts of this paper. Address for correspondence: Esther Dromi, School of Education, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel.

References

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