基于用法的英语儿童否定习得研究——以No结构与Not结构为例

A Usage-Based Study of English-Spoken Children’s Negation Acquisition—Exemplified by Structures Containing “No” and “Not”

摘要: 基于用法的模型认为儿童在交际中习得语言，语言的习得过程与语言接触频率有关，语言的习得单位是形式–功能配对体。本研究选取儿童语料库CHILDES中一名北美儿童的自然语料，提取其与父母产出的所有no结构与not结构，分别考察否定表达与否定功能的习得特征以及两者的习得配对性。研究结果显示，否定表达习得过程中，简单语言形式先于复杂形式习得；否定功能习得过程中，基于现场的否定功能先于脱离现场的否定功能习得；否定形式与功能的习得都受到父母输入的影响。儿童的否定习得单位是形式–功能配对体，占位现象影响了承担同样功能的不同语言形式的习得顺序。研究表明，英语儿童的否定习得过程吻合基于用法的模型。

Abstract: The usage-based model holds that children acquire language in communication, the process of language acquisition is related to the frequency of language contact, and the unit of language ac-quisition is the form-function pairings. This study selects the natural corpus of a North American child in CHILDES, a children’s corpus, and extracts all the structures containing “no” and “not” produced by the child and her parents, then examines the acquisition characteristics of negative expressions and negative functions, as well as the acquisition pairing of both. The results show that in the process of negative expression acquisition, simple language forms are prior to complex forms; in the process of negative function acquisition, the on-site based functions are prior to the off-site based functions; the acquisition of negative forms and functions is influenced by the input from parents. The negation acquisition unit of children is a form-function pairing, and the preemptive phenomenon affects the acquisition sequence of different language forms that undertake the same function. Research shows that English children’s negation acquisition is consistent with the usage-based model.