Children’s overtensing errors: Phonological and lexical effects on syntax

• Published in: Journal of memory and language Vol. 57; no. 1; pp. 49 - 64
• Main Author: Stemberger, Joseph Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.07.2007; Elsevier; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Child Language; Children; Children & youth; Connectionist models; Developmental psychology; Dual route models; English; English past-tense; Error Analysis; Error Patterns; First language acquisition; Frequency effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Grammar; Inflection; Language acquisition; Language Processing; Language production; Linguistics; Memory; Morphemes; Morphology; Negation; Overtensing; Phonemes; Phonetics; Phonological Processing; Phonology; Phonology–morphology interactions; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Regularity; Rhyme; Symbolic models; Syntax; Tense; Word Frequency; Phonology–morphology interactions; Connectionist models; First language acquisition; Dual route models; Morphology; Symbolic models; Language production; Overtensing; Regularity; Frequency effects; English past-tense; Lexicon; Grammatical tense; Cognition; Verbal production; Connectionism; Language; Phonology-morphology interactions; Child; Human; Grammar; English; Language development; Frequency; Phonology; Models; Syntax
• ISSN: 0749-596X; 1096-0821
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2007.02.003

Overtensing (the use of an inflected form in place of a nonfinite form, e.g. ∗ didn’t br o ke for target didn’t br ea k) is common in early syntax. In a ChiLDES-based study of 36 children acquiring English, I examine the effects of phonological and lexical factors. For irregulars, errors are more common with verbs of low frequency and when phonological processing biases favour the past-tense form relative to the base form (vowel dominance and the consonant addition bias). For regulars, errors are more common when the inflected form ends in a rime that can occur in monomorphemic forms in English (which children have had independent practice with) than when the rime is found only in inflected forms. Results demonstrate that default patterns can be subject to lexical frequency effects. Results are compatible with a particular conceptualization of competition (the integrated multiple competitor approach), whether connectionist or symbolic.