'Mismatches' of form and interpretation

Abstract

Much work in language acquisition has focused on the meanings of major lexical items (chiefly nouns, adjectives, and verbs). This chapter instead focuses on the types of issues and problems that arise when one focuses on the meanings of function words in a language (such as tense markers, conjunctions, articles, etc.). The issues that arise are very different from those surrounding the acquisition of major lexical items. It is pointed out that the function items interact with the syntax in complex ways that form a special challenge for any current view of language and meaning acquisition. © 2006 Springer.