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Moving in small steps towards verb second: A case study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2012

Christian Waldmann
Christian Waldmann*
Affiliation:
Umeå University, Department of Language Studies, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden. christian.waldmann@nord.umu.se
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Abstract

This paper examines rule-based learning and item-based learning in relation to a Swedish child's acquisition of verb second in main clauses. While rule-based accounts assert that young children have access to syntactic structure and acquire a rule of generalized verb second, item-based accounts claim that young children are reproducing frequent word combinations in the input. The paper provides new and important data from one Swedish child, concluding that the acquisition of verb second is the result of rule-based learning.

Keywords

child language acquisitionconstructivist approachesgenerativist approachesitem-based learningrule-based learningSwedishverb movementverb placementverb second
Type
Research Article
Information
Nordic Journal of Linguistics , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , December 2011 , pp. 331 - 359
Copyright
Copyright © Nordic Association of Linguistics 2012

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