The Comparative Method of Language Acquisition Research
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The Comparative Method of Language Acquisition Research
The Mayan family of languages is ancient and unique. With their distinctive relational nouns, positionals, and complex grammatical voices, they are quite alien to English and have never been shown to be genetically related to other New World tongues. These qualities, Clifton Pye shows, afford a particular opportunity for linguistic insight. Both an overview of lessons Pye has gleaned from more than thirty years of studying how children learn Mayan languages as well as a strong case for a novel method of researching crosslinguistic language acquisition more broadly, this book demonstrates the value of a close, granular analysis of a small language lineage for untangling the complexities of first language acquisition.
Pye here applies the comparative method to three Mayan languages—K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol—showing how differences in the use of verbs are connected to differences in the subject markers and pronouns used by children and adults. His holistic approach allows him to observe how small differences between the languages lead to significant differences in the structure of the children’s lexicon and grammar, and to learn why that is so. More than this, he expects that such careful scrutiny of related languages’ variable solutions to specific problems will yield new insights into how children acquire complex grammars. Studying such an array of related languages, he argues, is a necessary condition for understanding how any particular language is used; studying languages in isolation, comparing them only to one’s native tongue, is merely collecting linguistic curiosities.
Pye here applies the comparative method to three Mayan languages—K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol—showing how differences in the use of verbs are connected to differences in the subject markers and pronouns used by children and adults. His holistic approach allows him to observe how small differences between the languages lead to significant differences in the structure of the children’s lexicon and grammar, and to learn why that is so. More than this, he expects that such careful scrutiny of related languages’ variable solutions to specific problems will yield new insights into how children acquire complex grammars. Studying such an array of related languages, he argues, is a necessary condition for understanding how any particular language is used; studying languages in isolation, comparing them only to one’s native tongue, is merely collecting linguistic curiosities.
304 pages | 12 halftones, 1 line drawing, 90 tables | 6 x 9 | © 2017
Language and Linguistics: General Language and Linguistics, Language Studies, Psycholinguistics and Language Acquisition
Reviews
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter 1. Comparing Languages
Chapter 2. A History of Crosslinguistic Research on Language Acquisition
Chapter 3. The Comparative Method of Language Acquisition Research
Chapter 4. The Structure of Mayan Languages
Chapter 5. The Acquisition of the Mayan Lexicon
Chapter 6. The Acquisition of the Mayan Intransitive Verb Complex
Chapter 7. The Acquisition of the Mayan Transitive Verb Complex
Chapter 8. The Acquisition of Person Marking in the Mayan Verb Complex
Chapter 9. The Acquisition of Mayan Argument Structures
Chapter 10. Argument Realization in Mayan Languages
Chapter 11. Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
References
Index
Chapter 1. Comparing Languages
1.1 The Monolingual Approach to Crosslinguistic Research
1.2 The Unit of Comparison Problem
1.3 Why Is Crosslinguistic Research Needed?
1.4 The Comparative Method of Crosslinguistic Research
1.5 The Comparative Method and Usage-Based Approaches to Language Acquisition
1.2 The Unit of Comparison Problem
1.3 Why Is Crosslinguistic Research Needed?
1.4 The Comparative Method of Crosslinguistic Research
1.5 The Comparative Method and Usage-Based Approaches to Language Acquisition
Chapter 2. A History of Crosslinguistic Research on Language Acquisition
2.1 The Period of Single Language Studies
2.2 The Search for Language Universals
2.3 Parameter Theory
2.4 Crosslinguistic Surveys
2.5 The Acquisition of Polysynthesis
2.6 Building a Comprehensive Description of Language Acquisition
2.2 The Search for Language Universals
2.3 Parameter Theory
2.4 Crosslinguistic Surveys
2.5 The Acquisition of Polysynthesis
2.6 Building a Comprehensive Description of Language Acquisition
Chapter 3. The Comparative Method of Language Acquisition Research
3.1 The Comparative Method of Historical Linguistics
3.2 The Acquisition of Negation in the Germanic Languages
3.3 The Acquisition of Verb Inflection in the Germanic languages
3.4 Conclusion
3.2 The Acquisition of Negation in the Germanic Languages
3.3 The Acquisition of Verb Inflection in the Germanic languages
3.4 Conclusion
Chapter 4. The Structure of Mayan Languages
4.1 The Synthetic Structure of Mayan Languages
4.2 The Mayan Lexicon
4.3 The Mayan Verb Complex
4.3.1 Mayan Person Marking
4.3.2 Mayan Verb Suffixes
4.4 Stative Predicates
4.5 Mayan Nominalization
4.6 Summary
4.7 Mayan Syntax
4.8 The Mayan Communities
4.9 The Acquisition Database for the Mayan Languages
4.2 The Mayan Lexicon
4.3 The Mayan Verb Complex
4.3.1 Mayan Person Marking
4.3.2 Mayan Verb Suffixes
4.4 Stative Predicates
4.5 Mayan Nominalization
4.6 Summary
4.7 Mayan Syntax
4.8 The Mayan Communities
4.9 The Acquisition Database for the Mayan Languages
4.9.1 The K’iche’ Language Samples
4.9.2 The Mam Language Samples
4.9.3 The Ch’ol Language Samples
4.9.2 The Mam Language Samples
4.9.3 The Ch’ol Language Samples
Chapter 5. The Acquisition of the Mayan Lexicon
5.1 Mayan Lexical Categories
5.1.1 Nouns
5.1.2 Relational Nouns
5.1.3 Adjectives
5.1.4 Verbs
5.1.5 Positionals
5.1.6 Particles
5.1.2 Relational Nouns
5.1.3 Adjectives
5.1.4 Verbs
5.1.5 Positionals
5.1.6 Particles
5.2 The Production of Lexical Categories in K’iche’
5.3 The Production of Lexical Categories in Mam
5.4 The Production of Lexical Categories in Ch’ol
5.5 Comparing Lexical Production in K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
5.6 Mayan Pronouns
5.7 The Acquisition of Mayan Pronouns
5.3 The Production of Lexical Categories in Mam
5.4 The Production of Lexical Categories in Ch’ol
5.5 Comparing Lexical Production in K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
5.6 Mayan Pronouns
5.7 The Acquisition of Mayan Pronouns
5.7.1 The Acquisition of Pronouns in Ch’ol
5.7.2 The Acquisition of Pronouns in Mam
5.7.3 The Acquisition of Pronouns in K’iche’
5.7.2 The Acquisition of Pronouns in Mam
5.7.3 The Acquisition of Pronouns in K’iche’
5.8 Summary
Chapter 6. The Acquisition of the Mayan Intransitive Verb Complex
6.1 Acquisition of the Intransitive Verb Complex in K’iche’
6.2 Acquisition of the Intransitive Verb Complex in Mam
6.3 Acquisition of the Intransitive Verb Complex in Ch’ol
6.4 Summary
6.2 Acquisition of the Intransitive Verb Complex in Mam
6.3 Acquisition of the Intransitive Verb Complex in Ch’ol
6.4 Summary
Chapter 7. The Acquisition of the Mayan Transitive Verb Complex
7.1 Acquisition of the Transitive Verb Complex in K’iche’
7.2 Acquisition of the Transitive Verb Complex in Mam
7.3 Acquisition of the Transitive Verb Complex in Ch’ol
7.4 Summary
7.2 Acquisition of the Transitive Verb Complex in Mam
7.3 Acquisition of the Transitive Verb Complex in Ch’ol
7.4 Summary
Chapter 8. The Acquisition of Person Marking in the Mayan Verb Complex
8.1 The Acquisition of Ergative Person Markers on Transitive Verbs
8.2 The Acquisition of Ergative Person Markers on Intransitive Verbs
8.3 The Acquisition of Absolutive Person Markers on Intransitive Verbs
8.4 Conclusion
8.2 The Acquisition of Ergative Person Markers on Intransitive Verbs
8.3 The Acquisition of Absolutive Person Markers on Intransitive Verbs
8.4 Conclusion
Chapter 9. The Acquisition of Mayan Argument Structures
9.1 Argument Structure in K’iche’
9.2 Argument Structure in Mam
9.3 Argument Structure in Ch’ol
9.4 Comparative Argument Structure in K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
9.5 Children’s Argument Structure in K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
9.2 Argument Structure in Mam
9.3 Argument Structure in Ch’ol
9.4 Comparative Argument Structure in K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
9.5 Children’s Argument Structure in K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
9.5.1 Children’s Argument Production in K’iche’
9.5.2 Children’s Argument Production in Mam
9.5.3 Children’s Argument Production in Ch’ol
9.5.4 Comparative Argument Structure in Child K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
9.5.2 Children’s Argument Production in Mam
9.5.3 Children’s Argument Production in Ch’ol
9.5.4 Comparative Argument Structure in Child K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
9.6 Conclusion
Chapter 10. Argument Realization in Mayan Languages
10.1 Argument Realization in K’iche’
10.2 Argument Realization in Mam
10.3 Argument Realization in Ch’ol
10.2 Argument Realization in Mam
10.3 Argument Realization in Ch’ol
10.4 Comparing Argument Realization in K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
10.5 K’iche’ Children’s Production of Verb Arguments
10.6 Mam Children’s Production of Verb Arguments
10.7 Ch’ol Children’s Production of Verb Arguments
10.8 Comparison of Children’s Argument Realization in K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
10.9 Analysis or Synthesis
10.5 K’iche’ Children’s Production of Verb Arguments
10.6 Mam Children’s Production of Verb Arguments
10.7 Ch’ol Children’s Production of Verb Arguments
10.8 Comparison of Children’s Argument Realization in K’iche’, Mam, and Ch’ol
10.9 Analysis or Synthesis
Chapter 11. Conclusion
11.1 Broader Implications
11.2 Theoretical Implications
11.2 Theoretical Implications
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
References
Index