Language acquisition : the growth of grammar Machine generated contents note: Chapter 1 Basic Concepts I Introduction 1 1.1 Reflections on the Course of Language Acquisition 1 1.2 The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition 5 1.3 The Notion of Grammar 5 1.4 Constraints 8 1.5 Where Does Knowledge of Language Come From 10 1.6 The Critical Period 20 Chapter 2 First Steps into Language 23 Introduction 23 2.1 The Quest for the Native Language 24 2.2 Learning the Phonemic Contrasts of the Native Language 40 2.3 Infants Speech Production 47 2.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 52 Chapter 3 Acquisition of the Lexicon 55 Introduction 55 3.1 Why Finding Words Is a Problem 56 3.2 Why Acquiring the Meaning of Words Is a Problem 74 3.3 Acquisition of Verbs 80 3.4 Bootstrapping of Syntax 90 3.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks 96 Chapter 4 The Emergence of Syntax 101 Introduction 101 4.1 Word Order in Childrens Productions 101 4.2 The Structure of Early Clauses 103 4.3 The Subject Agreement Relation 120 4.4 Root Infinitives 128 4.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks 146 Chapter 5 Null Subjects in Early Languages 151 Introduction 15 5.1 Parametric Accounts of Early Null Subjects 152 5.2 Root Null Subjects 160 5.3 Performance Accounts 179 5.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 183 Chapter 6 Acquisition of Wh Movement 187 Introduction 187 6.1 Question Formation in Early Systems 188 6.2 Auxless Questions in Early English 202 6.3 Long Distance Wh Movement 209 6.4 Relative Clauses 220 6.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks 240 Chapter 7 Acquisition of NP Movement 245 Introduction 245 7.1 Passive Constructions in Adult and Child Grammar 246 7.2 A Maturational Account of Early Passive Constructions 252 7.3 Problems with the Maturational Account 254 7.4 New Findings about Early Passives 260 7.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks 268 Chapter 8 Acquisition of the Binding Principles 271 Introduction 271 8.1 The Binding Theory 272 8.2 Principle A 285 8.3 Principle B 290 8.4 Principle C 300 8.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks 308 Chapter 9 Aspects of the Acquisition of Quantification 313 Introduction 313 9.1 Prerequisites for Handling Quantificational Structures 314 9.2 The Structure of Quantified NPs and the Syntax Semantics Mapping 316 9.3 Childrens Errors with Universal Quantification 329 9.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 343 Chapter 10 Acquisition of Control 347 Introduction 347 10.1 Aspects of the Theory of Control 348 10.2 The Structure Changing Hypothesis 350 10.3 The Maturation Iypothesis 356 10.4 The Lexical Syntactic Integration Hypothesis 365 10.5 Summary and Concluding Remarks 371 Chapter 11 Dissociation between Language and Other Cognitive Abilities 375 Introduction 375 11.1 Impaired Language in Otherwise Normal Children: Specific Language Impairment 376 11.2 Approaches to Specific Language Impairment 378 11.3 Relatively Intact Language in an Otherwise Impaired System: Williams Syndrome 398 11.4 Summary and Concluding Remarks 403 Appendix A: Normal or Gaussian Distribution 405 Appendix B: Tests to Assess Specific Language Impairment 406 Notes 409 Glossary 423 References 429 Index 467