汉语儿童人称代词“人家”的习得研究

A Study on the Acquisition of the Chinese Child Pronoun “Renjia”

摘要: 文章从自然儿童语料出发，采取追踪调查的方法，探讨汉语儿童对人称代词“人家”的习得情况。研究显示，儿童在3岁左右就已经有能力熟练掌握“人家”的泛指用法，且话语中“人家”的所指对象具有由实到虚的变化趋势。成人和儿童之间劝说场景的常见性是儿童较早习得“人家”泛指用法的直接因素。3~6岁，儿童逐渐理解“人家”用于自指和他指的两类特指用法，但将其应用到话语中的能力还有待进一步发展，这与“人家”不同用法之间典型性的程度差异有关。特定场景中对“人家”的使用也可以体现出儿童在人际互动中语用策略的成熟。

Abstract: Based on natural child language corpora and employing a tracking approach, this study investigates children’s acquisition of the Chinese pronoun “renjia” (literally “people”). The study shows that children as young as three years old are already capable of mastering the general referential use of “renjia”, with the referent in discourse showing a trend from concrete to abstract. The frequent occurrence of persuasive contexts between adults and children is a direct factor contributing to children’s early acquisition of the general use of “renjia”. Between ages 3 and 6, children gradually understand the two specific uses of “renjia”—self-reference and other-reference—but their ability to apply these in actual speech remains underdeveloped, which correlates with differences in typicality among the various usages. The use of “renjia” in specific contexts also reflects the maturation of children’s pragmatic strategies in interpersonal interaction.