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Learning how ‘it’ works*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Christine Tanz
Christine Tanz
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
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Abstract

In a replication and extension of a study on the pronoun it by Chipman & de Dardel, 61 children aged 3; 1–5; 2 were asked to carry out instructions of the form ‘There is playdough on the table. Give it to me’. They were also asked ‘Give me some’, and ‘Give me the playdough’. The results indicate that children do observe the distinction between definite and indefinite pronouns as it applies to quantity, from the youngest age studied. It is also argued that to the extent that children fail to fully comprehend the implications of using the definite pronoun, their failure applies to definite reference in general, and not the pronoun in particular.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , June 1977 , pp. 225 - 235
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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Footnotes

[*]

Preparation of this article was supported by grant number SOC75-00565 from NSF to the Center for Comparative Psycholinguistics, University of Illinois. I owe thanks to Charles Osgood for his helpful discussions during the planning of the experiment and to Niki Merrick for her assistance in conducting it. I would also like to thank the teachers and students of the following nursery schools for their cooperation: Children's Research Centre at the University of Illinois, Toddler's Campus, Orchard Downs Cooperative, and Kiddie Kountry. A version of this paper was presented at the Seventh Annual Child Language Research Forum, Stanford, April 1975.

References

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