Watching noun phrases emerge: Seeking compositionality

Abstract

An argument is presented that the child moves from nonspecific to specific in a series of compositional steps that builds a language-specific Determiner Phrase. The child must select a subset of language-specific nodes from a larger set provided by UG. Every node, it is argued, requires semantic information to justify a language particular projection. In the process the child reverts to Defaults, maintains Multiple Grammars, and uses pragmatic information to confirm hypotheses about structure. Acquisition evidence for many decisions about DP nodes is reviewed, with a special emphasis upon how the child learns that definite articles allow temporal displacement. The larger argument provides a step toward building a model that reflects both semantic generalizations and acquisition evidence. © 2006 Springer.