Acquisition of Recursive Possessives and Recursive Locatives in Mandarin

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Main Authors: Fu, Chenxi, Wang, Xiaoyi, Man, Zaijiang, Yang, Caimei
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Fu, Chenxi
Wang, Xiaoyi
Man, Zaijiang
Yang, Caimei
author_facet Fu, Chenxi
Wang, Xiaoyi
Man, Zaijiang
Yang, Caimei
contents As recursion has been underlying any linguistic work for the last 60 years, the acquisition of recursive structures by children during language learning has become a focal point of inquiry. This study delves into the developmental trajectory of Mandarin-speaking children's acquisition of recursive possessives and locatives, assessing the impact of structural diversity on language acquisition. The research contrasts the comprehension of two-level recursive structures among children aged 3 to 7 years, employing answering question while seeing a picture task to elicit responses. The findings indicate that children do not attain adult-like proficiency in two-level recursion until the age of 6, and there exists a notable asymmetry in the acquisition of recursive possessives versus locatives. These results underscore the primacy of structural complexity and cognitive factors in the acquisition process, enhancing our comprehension of the cognitive foundations of language development and the pivotal role of recursion in child language acquisition.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_16556
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Acquisition of Recursive Possessives and Recursive Locatives in Mandarin
Fu, Chenxi
Wang, Xiaoyi
Man, Zaijiang
Yang, Caimei
Computation and Language
As recursion has been underlying any linguistic work for the last 60 years, the acquisition of recursive structures by children during language learning has become a focal point of inquiry. This study delves into the developmental trajectory of Mandarin-speaking children's acquisition of recursive possessives and locatives, assessing the impact of structural diversity on language acquisition. The research contrasts the comprehension of two-level recursive structures among children aged 3 to 7 years, employing answering question while seeing a picture task to elicit responses. The findings indicate that children do not attain adult-like proficiency in two-level recursion until the age of 6, and there exists a notable asymmetry in the acquisition of recursive possessives versus locatives. These results underscore the primacy of structural complexity and cognitive factors in the acquisition process, enhancing our comprehension of the cognitive foundations of language development and the pivotal role of recursion in child language acquisition.
title Acquisition of Recursive Possessives and Recursive Locatives in Mandarin
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.16556