Learning language is learning typology: acquisition of argument structure and relative clauses in typologically diverse languages

Abstract

This chapter discusses both simple and complex language constructions, and evaluates crosslinguistic research on monolingual children’s acquisition of argument structure and relative clauses. It provides an account of how crosslinguistic research on the acquisition of simple and complex language supports or challenges established ideas about language development. The chapter suggests that a change of focus for crosslinguistic research from universality to linguistic diversity is fruitful to identify the underlying mechanisms of language development. It presents evidence for the utilization of argument structure cues in English-learning children, which is followed by how children learning typologically different languages acquire argument structure knowledge. The chapter explores the construct cue validity of the Competition Model framework for explaining these typological differences. Children learning different languages arguably need to utilize specific arrays of cues to argument structure, including word order, nominal case markers, verb markers, pragmatics, verb semantics, animacy, and even gestures accompanying child-directed speech.