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Word order preferences for direct and indirect objects in children learning Korean

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2002

SOOKEUN CHO
Affiliation:
Korea University
MISEON LEE
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
WILLIAM O'GRADY
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii at Manoa
MINSUN SONG
Affiliation:
University of Hawaii at Manoa
TAKAAKI SUZUKI
Affiliation:
Kyoto Sangyo University
NAOKO YOSHINAGA
Affiliation:
Hirosaki Gakuin University

Abstract

Pre-school Korean children typically manifest higher comprehension rates on the ‘unmarked’ SOV sentences of their language than on the ‘scrambled’ OSV patterns. To date, however, scant attention has been paid to children's ordering preferences with respect to direct and indirect objects. The results of an act-out comprehension experiment involving 40 subjects (aged 4;0 to 7;0) show a strong, statistically significant preference for the accusative–dative order, despite evidence that the reverse order is more common in mother-to-child speech. Two hypotheses are considered, one involving the relationship between word order and grammatical relations and the other involving the relationship between word order and the types of situations denoted by the sentences in question. The results of a follow-up study involving transitive verbs with instrument arguments provide strong evidence in favour of the latter hypothesis.

Type
Notes and Discussion
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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