Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T23:31:32.435Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Morphological development in Italian: connotation and denotation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Elizabeth Bates  and
Jane Rankin
Elizabeth Bates
Affiliation:
University of Colorado
Jane Rankin
Affiliation:
University of Missouri
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Both longitudinal and experimental evidence were used in an examination of the development of adjectives vs. inflections for the expression of size and value concepts in Italian children. The longitudinal speech production records for two Italian children suggest that the concepts of size and value are understood and expressed linguistically by 2 years. One child acquired both adjectival and inflectional expressions for size simultaneously, while the other used adjectives for size and value several months prior to the acquisition of corresponding inflections. However, both children demonstrated productive use of size inflections at around MLU 3·0. A subsequent experiment with 84 children, ranging from 2 to 6 years, suggests that comprehension of size and value inflections is restricted to a narrow, denotative set of meanings based predominately on a strict interpretation in terms of size. This pattern stands in marked contrast to adult patterns on the same experiment, in which size inflections are interpreted connotatively as well, with meanings based on positive and negative affect as well as size. The relative contribution of Connotative vs. denotative factors in the development of reference is discussed.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , February 1979 , pp. 29 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

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. (1977). From reference to meaning. Paper presented to the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Antinucci, F. & Parisi, D. (1975). Early semantic development in child language. In Lenneberg, E. H. & Lenneberg, E. (eds), Foundations of language development. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Antinucci, F. & Volterra, V. (1973). Lo sviluppo della negazione nel linguaggio infantile: uno studio pragmatico. Quaderni delle ricerche scientifiche. Rome: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Psicologia.Google Scholar
Bates, E. (1976). Language and context. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Berko, J. (1958). The child's learning of English morphology. Word 14. 150–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, R. (1973). A first language: the early Stages. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, E. (1977). Strategies for communicating. Paper presented to the Society for Research on Child Development, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Clark, H. (1973). Space, time, semantics and the child. In Moore, T. (ed.), Cognitive development and the acquisition of language. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Holzman, M. (1977). Where is under? The development from pragmatic to semantic meaning. Paper presented to the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Morris, C. (1946). Signs, language and behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, K. (1977). Lexical acquisition. Paper presented to the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Ross, J. (1967). Constraints on variables in syntax. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Google Scholar
Slobin, D. (1973). Cognitive prerequisites for grammar. In Ferguson, C. & Slobin, D. (eds), Studies in child language development. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Volterra, V. (1975). Come viene vissuta nel linguaggio di un bambino di due anni l'attesa di una sorellina. Rome: National Council of Research, Institute of Psychology.Google Scholar
Weinreich, U. (1963). Universals in semantic theory. In Greenberg, J. (ed.). Language universals. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. (1958). The blue and the brown books. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar