Explaining variation in wh-position in child French: A statistical analysis of new seminaturalistic data
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2019
- handle: 10670/1.h249lf
- hal: hal-01870071
- doi: 10.1080/10489223.2018.1513004
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info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1080/10489223.2018.1513004
Mots-clés
acquisition French L1 syntax in-situ wh-questionsSujets proches
Frenchmen (French people)Citer ce document
Katerina Palasis et al., « Explaining variation in wh-position in child French: A statistical analysis of new seminaturalistic data », HAL-SHS : linguistique, ID : 10.1080/10489223.2018.1513004
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Résumé
The two possible positions for wh-words (i.e., in situ or preposed) represent a long-standing area of research in French. The present study reports on statistical analyses of a new seminaturalistic corpus of child L1 French. The distribution of the wh-words is examined in relation to a new verb tripartition: Free be forms, the Fixed be form c’est ‘it is’, and Other Verbs. Results indicate that a discriminating variable is verb form (i.e., Free vs. Fixed), regardless of verb type (i.e., be vs. Other Verbs), and that there is a correlation between the wh-in-situ position and the Fixed be form. The Fixed be form is thus identified as the component that leads to wh-in-situ utterances, in contrast to other languages such as English. Overuse of the Fixed be form in child speech could also account for the predominance of wh-in-situ in child object questions compared to adjunct questions and child wh-questions in general compared to adult questions