English-speaking children's early passives: evidence from syntactic priming

Katherine Messenger; Holly P. Branigan; Janet F. McLean; Antonella Sorace

English-speaking children's early passives: evidence from syntactic priming

Katherine Messenger, Holly P. Branigan, Janet F. McLean, Antonella Sorace

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

This syntactic priming study investigated semantic and lexical factors in 3- and 4-year-olds’ passives: early use of the English passive is argued to be semantically constrained to action verbs (Maratsos et al 1985) and young children apparently perform better with get- than be-passives (Harris & Flora 1982). Experiment 1 found a reliable priming effect of Structure (active – passive) on passive responses, but no effect of Verb-Type (actional – non-actional) suggesting that by 4, children do have an abstract passive representation that does not appear to be constrained by verb semantics. Experiment 2 confirmed a reliable priming effect from get- as well as be-passives. Priming from be- to get-passives suggests this effect did not arise solely from lexical priming of the auxiliary but that 4-yearolds have a common representation underlying both passives, though the absence of priming in the opposite direction suggests the passive may be acquired with get earlier than with be.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 32nd annual Boston University conference on language development
Editors	Harvey Chan, Heather Jacob, Enkeleida Kapia
Place of Publication	Somerville, MA
Publisher	Cascadilla Press
Pages	275-286
Number of pages	12
Volume	1
ISBN (Print)	9781574730845
Publication status	Published - Apr 2008
Externally published	Yes
Event	32nd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development - Boston, United States Duration: 2 Nov 2007 → 4 Nov 2007 Conference number: 32

Publication series

Name	BUCLD: Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development
Publisher	Cascadilla Press
Volume	32
ISSN (Print)	1080-692X

Conference

Conference	32nd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development
Abbreviated title	BUCLD 32
Country/Territory	United States
City	Boston
Period	2/11/07 → 4/11/07

Cite this

Messenger, K., Branigan, H. P., McLean, J. F., & Sorace, A. (2008). English-speaking children's early passives: evidence from syntactic priming. In H. Chan, H. Jacob, & E. Kapia (Eds.), Proceedings of the 32nd annual Boston University conference on language development (Vol. 1, pp. 275-286). (BUCLD: Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development; Vol. 32). Cascadilla Press.

Messenger, Katherine ; Branigan, Holly P. ; McLean, Janet F. et al. / English-speaking children's early passives : evidence from syntactic priming. Proceedings of the 32nd annual Boston University conference on language development. editor / Harvey Chan ; Heather Jacob ; Enkeleida Kapia. Vol. 1 Somerville, MA : Cascadilla Press, 2008. pp. 275-286 (BUCLD: Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development).

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title = "English-speaking children's early passives: evidence from syntactic priming",

abstract = "This syntactic priming study investigated semantic and lexical factors in 3- and 4-year-olds{\textquoteright} passives: early use of the English passive is argued to be semantically constrained to action verbs (Maratsos et al 1985) and young children apparently perform better with get- than be-passives (Harris \& Flora 1982). Experiment 1 found a reliable priming effect of Structure (active – passive) on passive responses, but no effect of Verb-Type (actional – non-actional) suggesting that by 4, children do have an abstract passive representation that does not appear to be constrained by verb semantics. Experiment 2 confirmed a reliable priming effect from get- as well as be-passives. Priming from be- to get-passives suggests this effect did not arise solely from lexical priming of the auxiliary but that 4-yearolds have a common representation underlying both passives, though the absence of priming in the opposite direction suggests the passive may be acquired with get earlier than with be.",

author = "Katherine Messenger and Branigan, \{Holly P.\} and McLean, \{Janet F.\} and Antonella Sorace",

year = "2008",

month = apr,

language = "English",

isbn = "9781574730845",

volume = "1",

series = "BUCLD: Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development",

publisher = "Cascadilla Press",

pages = "275--286",

editor = "Harvey Chan and Heather Jacob and Enkeleida Kapia",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 32nd annual Boston University conference on language development",

note = "32nd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, BUCLD 32 ; Conference date: 02-11-2007 Through 04-11-2007",

}

Messenger, K, Branigan, HP, McLean, JF & Sorace, A 2008, English-speaking children's early passives: evidence from syntactic priming. in H Chan, H Jacob & E Kapia (eds), Proceedings of the 32nd annual Boston University conference on language development. vol. 1, BUCLD: Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development, vol. 32, Cascadilla Press, Somerville, MA, pp. 275-286, 32nd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 2/11/07.

English-speaking children's early passives: evidence from syntactic priming. / Messenger, Katherine; Branigan, Holly P.; McLean, Janet F. et al.
Proceedings of the 32nd annual Boston University conference on language development. ed. / Harvey Chan; Heather Jacob; Enkeleida Kapia. Vol. 1 Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press, 2008. p. 275-286 (BUCLD: Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development; Vol. 32).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

TY - GEN

T1 - English-speaking children's early passives

T2 - 32nd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development

AU - Messenger, Katherine

AU - Branigan, Holly P.

AU - McLean, Janet F.

AU - Sorace, Antonella

N1 - Conference code: 32

PY - 2008/4

Y1 - 2008/4

N2 - This syntactic priming study investigated semantic and lexical factors in 3- and 4-year-olds’ passives: early use of the English passive is argued to be semantically constrained to action verbs (Maratsos et al 1985) and young children apparently perform better with get- than be-passives (Harris & Flora 1982). Experiment 1 found a reliable priming effect of Structure (active – passive) on passive responses, but no effect of Verb-Type (actional – non-actional) suggesting that by 4, children do have an abstract passive representation that does not appear to be constrained by verb semantics. Experiment 2 confirmed a reliable priming effect from get- as well as be-passives. Priming from be- to get-passives suggests this effect did not arise solely from lexical priming of the auxiliary but that 4-yearolds have a common representation underlying both passives, though the absence of priming in the opposite direction suggests the passive may be acquired with get earlier than with be.

AB - This syntactic priming study investigated semantic and lexical factors in 3- and 4-year-olds’ passives: early use of the English passive is argued to be semantically constrained to action verbs (Maratsos et al 1985) and young children apparently perform better with get- than be-passives (Harris & Flora 1982). Experiment 1 found a reliable priming effect of Structure (active – passive) on passive responses, but no effect of Verb-Type (actional – non-actional) suggesting that by 4, children do have an abstract passive representation that does not appear to be constrained by verb semantics. Experiment 2 confirmed a reliable priming effect from get- as well as be-passives. Priming from be- to get-passives suggests this effect did not arise solely from lexical priming of the auxiliary but that 4-yearolds have a common representation underlying both passives, though the absence of priming in the opposite direction suggests the passive may be acquired with get earlier than with be.

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9781574730845

VL - 1

T3 - BUCLD: Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development

SP - 275

EP - 286

BT - Proceedings of the 32nd annual Boston University conference on language development

A2 - Chan, Harvey

A2 - Jacob, Heather

A2 - Kapia, Enkeleida

PB - Cascadilla Press

CY - Somerville, MA

Y2 - 2 November 2007 through 4 November 2007

ER -

Messenger K, Branigan HP, McLean JF, Sorace A. English-speaking children's early passives: evidence from syntactic priming. In Chan H, Jacob H, Kapia E, editors, Proceedings of the 32nd annual Boston University conference on language development. Vol. 1. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. 2008. p. 275-286. (BUCLD: Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development).

English-speaking children's early passives: evidence from syntactic priming

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