The acquisition of Japanese numerical classifiers by 2–4‐year‐old children: The role of caretakers' linguistic inputs

要旨

Numerical classifiers (NCs) are the inflections used with numbers when counting objects, frequencies, and in assigning orders. The aim of this paper is to show how Japanese NCs are acquired by young children in the socio‐linguistic context. In Study 1, conversations between two 2‐year‐old children and their mother at a dinner table, longitudinally recorded for one year, were analyzed. In Study 2, conversations between 2–4‐year‐old children and their mothers in a pseudo‐snack scene were examined. The results show that the caretakers' inputs are well adjusted to the linguistic level of their children, which seems to help the children's long‐run acquisition of the NCs. The findings are discussed from the viewpoint of the interplay of inner constraints and linguistic inputs.

主題