Comprehension of verb number morphemes in Czech children: Singular and plural show different relations to age and vocabulary

Abstract

Two experiments examined Czech children's comprehension of grammatical number marking in verbs. Children were presented with picture pairs involving one or multiple participants in the same action, and were asked to point to the picture described by a recorded sentence. Experiment 1 (N = 72, age 3;0-4;7) tested four types of sentences, some of which marked the number of participants on the verb only. There was a marked increase in comprehension scores with age and receptive vocabulary scores in singular, but not in plural sentences. This pattern was present regardless of how number was marked. Experiment 2 (N = 45, age 3;4-4;9) replicated the key findings of Experiment 1. The results suggest that comprehension of morphological number markers remains difficult even when children routinely produce such markers. However, when compared with results from other languages and experimental paradigms, it appears that the effect is due mainly to children's comprehension of the task and not limitations in their grammatical knowledge.

Subject–verb agreement: Three experiments on Catalan

“…In our first study, children also underperformed, but only with third-person singular subjects in the null subject condition, and there is no clear motive why it should be so. Numerous studies have found number (singular, plural) asymmetries (Johnson et al, 2005; Legendre et al, 2014; Pérez-Leroux, 2005; Smolík & Bláhová, 2016; Verhagen & Blom, 2014; among others). In terms of the syntactic mechanisms involved, there is no reason to expect singular to be more difficult or easier than plural: the underlying matching mechanism is the same, and so no differences are predicted.…”

“… 5. Smolík and Bláhová (2016) further suggest that some of the problems associated with pointing may be avoided in truth value judgment tasks, something that remains for future research. …”

Acquisition of polarity items in Czech children: An experimental study

“…In the current Czech linguistic environment and renewed interest in child language the main attention has been paid to pre-school age language acquisition, e.g. Smolík & Bláhová (2017);Smolík & Seidlová Málková (2014); Saicová Římalová (2013); Doleží (2014); Mertins et al (2014). It might seem that once children enter school there are not many things going on linguistically speaking.…”