The Logical Problem of

Language Acquisition
Children acquire the grammar of their
language—a SYSTEM of RULES for Syntax
and Morphology and Phonology, etc. with input
that is
“…incomplete, noisy, and unstructured. The
utterances include slips of the tongue, false
starts, ungrammatical and incomplete
sentences, and no information as to which
utterances heard are well formed and which
are not.”
Fromkin, Victoria and Robert Rodman. An Introduction to Language, sixth edition. Forth
Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998, p. 340.
 Development of Grammar
 Acquisition of Phonology
 Acquisition of Word Meaning
 Acquisition of Morphology
 Acquisition of Syntax
 Acquisition of Pragmatics

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language,
9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, pp. 339-350.
 Sixteen month-old JP’s
Vocabulary
[aw] not [s:] aerosol
spray
[b]/[m] up [sju:] shoe
[da] dog [haj] hi
[io]/[sio] Cheerios [sr] shirt /
sweater
[sa] sock [s:]/[s:] what’s
that?/hey, look
[aj]/[j] light [ma] mommy
[baw]/[daw] down [d] daddy
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language,
9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 336.
 Acquisition Order of Sounds
Manner Place
of Articulation of Articulation
Nasals Labials
Glides Velars
Stops Alveolars
Liquids Palatals
Fricatives
Affricates
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language,
7th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p. 356.
 Perception and Production
Linguist Neil Smith and his 2-year-old son
Father: What does [maws] mean?
Amahl: Like a cat.
Father: Yes, what else?
Amahl: Nothing else
Father: It’s part of your head.
Amahl: [fascinated]
Father: [touching Amahl’s mouth] What’s this?
Amahl: [maws]

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language,
9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 340.
 Simplifying the Sounds
of a Language
[ pun ] spoon
[ peyn ] plane
[ ts ] kiss
[ taw ] cow
[ tin ] clean
[ polr ] stroller
[ majtl ] Michael
[ dajtr ] diaper
[ pati ] Papi
[ mani ] Mommy
[ brt ] Bert
[ brt ] (big) Bird
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language,
9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 341.
 The Problem
of Acquiring Meaning
“A child who observes a cat sitting on a mat
also observes…a mat supporting a cat, a mat
under a cat, a floor supporting a mat and a cat,
and so on. If the adult now says. ‘The cat is on
the mat’ even while pointing to the cat on the
mat, how is the child to choose among these
interpretations of the situation?”

[L.R. Gleitman and E. Wanner. 1982. Language Acquisition: The State of the State of
the Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 10.] [Reference not given in 2009,
9th ed.; given in 2003.]

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language,
9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 342.
 Innate Bias
in Acquiring Word Meaning
1. Whole object principle
2. Form over color principle
3. Everything has a name
4. Each thing has only one name

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language,
7th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p. 360.
 Stages of Irregular Verb
Acquisition
Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
broke breaked broke
brought bringed brought
went goed went

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language,
9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 344.
 Acquisition of Morphology
TOM: Where’s Mommy?
CHILD: Mommy goed to the store.
TOM: Mommy goed to the store?
CHILD: NO! (annoyed) Daddy, I say it that way, not you.
CHILD: You readed some of it too…she readed all the rest.
DAN: She read the whole thing to you, huh?
CHILD: Nu-uh, you read some.
DAN: Oh, that’s right, yeah. I readed the beginning of it.
CHILD: Readed? (annoyed surprise) Read!
(pronounced / rd /)
DAN: Oh, yeah, read.
CHILD: Will you stop that, Papa?

Steven Pinker. Words and Rules. New York: Basic Books, 1999, pp. 199-200.
 Morpheme Acquisition Order
-ing
in, on
-s (REGULAR PLURAL)
-s (1st PERS SINGULAR PRESENT)
’s (POSSESSIVE)

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2003. An Introduction to Language,
7th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, p. 365.
 Two-Word Sentences
allgone sock hi Mommy
bye bye boat allgone sticky
more wet it ball
Katherine sock dirty sock

Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language,
9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, p. 347.
 Setting Parameters
 Head Parameter
VP VO English
OV Japanese
PP Prep N English
N Post Japanese

 Verb Movement Dutch, Italian

 Auxiliary Movement English

 Explicit Subject English, yes

Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, no
[NOT in book?]
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman & Nina Hyams. 2011. An Introduction to Language,
9th edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, pp. 354-355.
 Chapter 7 Homework
(Exercise 5, pp. 370-371)
1. don’t [ dot ] simplification: ConCl
2. skip [ kp ] simplify: ConsClust
3. shoe [ su ] substitute
4. that [ dt ] substitute
5. play [ pe ] simplify: ConsClust
6. thump [ dp ] substitute & simplify
7. bath [ bt ] substitute
8. chop [ tap ] substitute/simplify
9. kitty [ kdi ] ??
10. light [ wajt ] substitute
11. dolly [ dawi ] substitute
12. grow [ go ] simplify: ConsClust
 Chapter 7 Homework
(Exercise 7, p. 371)
Adult Form Child form
a. children childs
b. went goed
c. better gooder
d. best goodest
e. brought bringed
f. sang singed
g. geese gooses
h. worst baddest
i. knives knifes
j. worse badder