Toddlers' Use of Verb Constructions in Hindi - Paperback

by Smita Srivastava (Author)

Toddlers' Use of Verb Constructions in Hindi takes a comprehensive look at the processes by which children extract structure and meaning from the particular language they are learning to build up a more complex grammar. Adopting a Usage-Based approach, this work, examines children's productivity, that is their ability to use a new verb in a construction in which they have never before heard it. It does so in a highly interactive experimental design using both novel and familiar verbs. Children's productivity in the experimental study is then compared with their own verb use in everyday play contexts with their caregivers as well as the mothers' verb use to discern patterns of individual differences in language development. The findings of the studies reported here seem to suggest that languages with explicit markings for agent- patient relations facilitate an earlier onset of productivity than word-order languages like English. Productivity is also greater when children hear verbs used in diverse constructions by their caregivers.