出版社：University of Colorado, Department of Linguistics
摘要：This paper explores the item-based nature of child language acquisition by
examining data from the CHILDES database (MacWhinney 2000). Two studies are
explicated: the first uses pooled data from several children, and the second
follows a single child longitudinally. The results show that the learning of the
complex construction consisting of a main clause followed by an infinitival
compliment, e.g. I want to play , center around a single verb,
want , even though other candidate verbs exist in the children's
vocabulary. We provide empirical evidence to show that children initially learn
grammar via item-based units and gradually break down complex constructions
as units into smaller pieces in a process that leads towards the
organization of language into the abstract categories consistent with a fully
competent adult grammar
