elision

[Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith]

you might find that they go from j'entends to je entends and back to
j'entends - though I've never heard a child use je entends.
I haven't studied this aspect of French but from my daughters I had
many examples like the following where it seems that the liaison
gives you a clue to what is going on:

one age:  c'est-a moi  and c'est pas-a moi (with liaison "t" and "s"
in second example)

later:  c'est-a moi and c'est pa t-a moi  (where the negative has
really been added rather than a ready made phrase)

later - back to correct

just an anecdote but interesting
Annette K-S


(At 23:13 -0500 1/2/03, Cristina Dye wrote:
>Dear Info CHILDES Members,
>
>
>I am working on a project examining the first language acquisition
>of French and I am trying to find out at what age French children
>begin to show knowledge of phonological elision (e.g., je entends ->
>j'entends). Any suggestions or references would be greatly
>appreciated.
>
>Many thanks,
>
>Cristina Dye