The article investigates the acquisition of finiteness in the languages of a Spanish/English bilingual child (Mina, 1;9.5-2;6.21). We use the `underspecification of AspP hypothesis' of Gavruseva (2002b, 2003) to argue that a non-finite root stage is attested in both Spanish and English, despite the fact that the two languages evolve as grammars with distinct INFLs (Rizzi 1993/94, Wexler 1998). It is shown that the use of non-finite and finite root predicates is determined by the verb's Aktionsart or, more precisely, by the verb's telicity semantics. We also argue that developmental trends support the `two separate systems' hypothesis of bilingual acquisition (Genesee 1989), with the similarities following from the undespecified aspectual heads in both grammars and the differences following from the morphological properties of inflectional paradigms.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agrell, S. (1908). Aspektänderung and Aktionsartbildung beim polnischen Zeitworte: ein Beitrag zum Studium der indogermanischen Präverbia und ihrer Bedeutungsfunktionen. Lunds Universitets Arsskrift, new series, I, iv.2.
2.
Bel, A. (to appear). Infinitival constructions in child language: evidence from English, Catalan, and Spanish. In F. J. Ruiz (ed.), Panorama de la Lingüística Aplicada. Conocimiento, procesamiento y uso del lenguaje, Vol. 1 ( Universidad de la Rioja ).
3.
Borer, H. (1994). The projection of arguments. In E. Benedicto & J. Runner, (eds), UMass Occasional Papers in Linguistics ( Amherst, MA: GLSA ), 19-47.
4.
Bybee, J. L. (1991). Natural morphology: the organization of paradigms and language acquisition. In T. Huebner & C. A. Ferguson (eds), Crosscurrents in Second Language Acquisition and Linguistic Theories ( John Benjamins: Amsterdam ), 67-91.
5.
Castro, D. (2002). Finiteness in Spanish/English bilingual acquisition: a case study. Master's thesis, University of Iowa.
6.
Davidson, L. & Legendre, G. (2001). Explaining the non-optionality of Optional Infinitives in Catalan and French . Poster session presented at GALA (Generative Approaches to Language Acquisition), Palmela, Portugal.
7.
Deuchar, M. & Quay, S. (2000). Bilingual Acquisition: Theoretical Implications of a Case Study ( Oxford: Oxford University Press ).
8.
Dowty, D. (1979). Word Meaning and Montague Grammar ( Dordrecht: Reidel ).
9.
Gavruseva, E. (2002a). Aspect, eventivity, and finiteness in early child grammar . In J. Costa & M. J. Freitas (eds), Proceedings of the GALA'01 Conference on Language Acquisition (Lisboa: Associação Portuguesa de Linguística), 68-75 .
10.
Gavruseva, E. (2002b). Is there primacy of aspect in child L2 English? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition5(2), 109-130 .
11.
Gavruseva, E. (2003). Aktionsart, aspect, and finiteness in early child grammar . Linguistics, 41 (4), 723-755 .
12.
Genesee, F. (1989). Early bilingual development: one language or two? Journal of Child Language, 16, 161-179 .
13.
Grinstead, J. (1998). Subjects, sentential negation and imperatives in child Spanish and Catalan. PhD dissertation, UCLA, Los Angeles.
14.
Grinstead, J. (2000). Case, inflection and subject licensing in child Catalan and Spanish . Journal of Child Language, 27, 119-155 .
15.
Guasti, M.-T. (1993/94). Verb syntax in Italian child grammar: finite and non-finite verbs . Language Acquisition3 (1), 1-40 .
16.
Hoekstra, T. & Hyams. N. (1998). Aspects of root infinitives . Lingua, 106, 81-112 .
17.
Hyams, N. (2002). Clausal structure in child Greek: a reply to Varlokosta, Vainikka and Rohrbacher and a reanalysis . The Linguistic Review, 19, 225-269 .
18.
Joos, M. (1964). The English Verb: Form and Meanings ( Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press ).
19.
Krifka, M. (1989). Nominal reference, temporal constitution, and quantification in event semantics. In R. Bartsch, J. van Benthem & P. van Emde Boas (eds), Semantics and Contextual Expression ( Dordrecht: Foris ), 75-115.
20.
MacWhinney, B. & Snow, C. (1985). The Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES) . Journal of Child Language, 12, 271-296 .
21.
Meisel, J.M. (1989). Early differentiation of languages in bilingual children. In K. Hyltenstam & L. Obler (eds), Bilingualism across the Lifespan ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ), 13-40.
22.
Phillips, C. (1995). Syntax at age two: crosslinguistic differences. In C. Schützeet al. (eds), MIT Working Papers in Linguistics ( Cambridge, MA: MIT Press ), 26, 325-382.
23.
Pollock, J.-Y. (1989). Verb movement, UG and the structure of IP . Linguistic Inquiry, 20, 365-424 .
24.
Radford, A. & Ploennig-Pacheco, I. (1995). The morphosyntax of subjects and verbs in child Spanish: a case study . Essex Research Reports in Linguistics, 5, 23-67 .
25.
Rizzi, L. (1993/94). Some notes on linguistic theory and language development: the case of Root Infinitives . Language Acquisition, 3 (4), 371-394 .
26.
Sanz, M. (1999). Aktionsart and transitive phrases. In E. Treviño & J. Lema (eds), Semantic Issues in Romance Syntax ( John Benjamins: Amsterdam ), 247-261.
27.
Shirai, Y. & Andersen, R.W. (1995). The acquisition of tense-aspect morphology: a prototype account . Language, 71, 743-761 .
28.
Travis, L. (1991). Derived objects, inner aspect, and the structure of VP . Talk given at NELS 22, University of Delaware.
29.
Travis, L. (2000). The l-syntax/s-syntax boundary: evidence from Austronesian. In I. Paul, V. Phillips & L. Travis (eds), Formal Issues in Austronesian Linguistics ( Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers ), 167-194.
30.
Verkuyl, H. J. (1972). On the Compositional Nature of Aspect ( Dordrecht: Reidel ).
31.
Verkuyl, H. J. (1993). A Theory of Aspectuality ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ).
32.
Verkuyl, H. J. (1999). Aspectual Issues: Studies on Time and Quantity ( Stanford University, CA: CSLI ).
33.
Wexler, K. (1994). Optional infinitives, head movement and the economy of derivations. In N. Hornstein & D. Lightfoot (eds), Verb Movement ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press ), 305-350.
34.
Wexler, K. (1998). Very early parameter setting and the unique checking constraint: A new explanation of the optional infinitive stage . Lingua, 106, 23-79 .
35.
Zagona, K. (1996). Compositionality of aspect: evidence from Spanish aspectual se. In C. Parodi, C. Quicoli, M. Salterelli & M.-L. Zubizarreta (eds), Aspects of Romance Linguistics ( Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press ), 475-488.
