The Acquisition of wh-questions: A Special Issue of Language Acquisition

This special issue spans the domain of inquiry concerning the acquisition of wh -questions. Wh -questions have become a central interest for theorists of language acquisition because they exemplify some of the most significant principles of grammar. Most important, they involve movement rules; hence, their acquisition introduces issues such as: * When are long-distance rules acquired? * When are barriers to movement operative? * How do empty categories emerge? As these articles demonstrate, questions can provide a window into phrase structure as well as the principles of children's grammar. In the past several years, the growing body of research on questions has multiplied the perspectives, the range of constructions studied, and the cross-linguistic evidence about Universal Grammar and child language. In this new work, acquisition theorists have moved beyond trying to verify the claims of linguistic theory with respect to child grammars. The contributors share the perspective that one can take seriously the evidence from acquisition to suggest modifications in liguistic theory, or to help in deciding among competing accounts in adult grammar based on intuitions. Representing the leading edge of contemporary work in this domain, the articles range widely in topic, methodology, and theoretical commitments.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805899472
• ISBN13: 9780805899474
• Release Date: August 1995
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.5" x 6.0"