RESUMO
This article presents findings from empirical studies of the development of the use of pronouns in early child language. This presentation includes discussion of 1) when personal, reflexive, possessive, and indefinite pronominal forms appear in child-initiated contexts, 2) which errors emerge, and 3) which communicative functions utterances with pronouns have in dialogue. A first comparison of German-speaking and (American-)English-speaking children's usage is offered, focussing in particular on the use of the pronominal forms I/ich, you/du, and my/mein. This crosslinguistic comparison reveals differences in the age of first use, but simultaneously suggests similarities in functional characteristics of such usage. The findings are discussed in connection with the question of the development of children's communicative competence.
Assuntos
Comparação Transcultural , Desenvolvimento da Linguagem , Idioma , Semântica , Pré-Escolar , Formação de Conceito , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Recém-Nascido , Masculino , PsicolinguísticaRESUMO
The present study examines the relationship between linguistic forms and the functions they serve in children's early talk about agentivity and control. The spontaneous linguistic productions of six children ranging between 1;8 and 2;8 served as the data base. Preliminary analyses of who the children referred to and what forms were used in subject position suggest that the children could be divided into two groups. Three children primarily referred to Self and relied on multiple Self reference forms in subject position, while the other children referred to both Self and Other and primarily used the Self reference form, I. A functional analysis was carried out to examine whether the seemingly interchangeable use of Self reference forms could be related to semantic and pragmatic patterns. The findings indicate that at a time before they regularly refer to others, the children systematically employed different Self reference forms to mark distinct perspectives on agency.