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When do children generalize the plural to novel nouns?

Linda B. Smith

Indiana University

Despite the theoretical importance of the processes of generalization to the development of morphological rules, not much is known about the basic developmental trend or the relevant processes. The present study seeks to answer the question: at what age are children able to generalize the plural to new nouns. In a six-week longitudinal study, children aged 17.5 to 28 months participated in a spontaneous production task in which they were either provided with the singular form of common and novel nouns and asked to generate the plural form, or given the plural form of those nouns and asked to generate the singular form. The results suggest that very young children do generalize the plural to novel forms. The data also strongly suggest that, long before a truly productive regular plural is evident, very young learners of English know that there is a singular and plural form, and they know how they are related.

Key Words: Cognitive development • elicitation task • first language acquisition • generalization • morphological development

First Language, Vol. 27, No. 1, 53-73 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0142723707070286


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