33.2254, Review: Language Acquisition; Morphology; Typology: Mattes, Sommer-Lolei, Korecky-Kröll, Dressler (2021)

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Subject: 33.2254, Review: Language Acquisition; Morphology; Typology: Mattes, Sommer-Lolei, Korecky-Kröll, Dressler (2021)

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Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2022 19:37:22
From: Ellen Bristow [BristowEL at cardiff.ac.uk]
Subject: The Acquisition of Derivational Morphology

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/33/33-668.html

EDITOR: Veronika  Mattes
EDITOR: Sabine  Sommer-Lolei
EDITOR: Katharina  Korecky-Kröll
EDITOR: Wolfgang U.  Dressler
TITLE: The Acquisition of Derivational Morphology
SUBTITLE: A cross-linguistic perspective
SERIES TITLE: Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 66
PUBLISHER: John Benjamins
YEAR: 2021

REVIEWER: Ellen Bristow, Cardiff University

SUMMARY 

“The Acquisition of Derivational Morphology: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective”,
edited by Veronika Mattes (University of Graz), Sabine Sommer-Lei, Katharina
Korecky-Kröll, and Wolfgang U. Dressler (University of Vienna), offers crucial
cross-linguistic perspectives on the acquisition of derivational morphology.
The volume presents findings which could have theoretical implications for
morphology studies and, more broadly, language acquisition research. The
introduction explains how, in comparison to other morphological studies (e.g.,
inflection or compounding) and other domains of language acquisition (e.g.,
the lexicon or syntax), derivational morphology is understudied. Studies that
do exist focus mainly on single languages, usually involve testing rather than
spontaneous interactions, and are very rarely cross-linguistic (e.g., Clark
1993; 2010). Consequently, there is little understanding about the emergence
and early development of derivational patterns from a cross-linguistic or
longitudinal perspective. To address this gap, this edited volume comprises
ten core chapters, each of which is written by scholars who are specialists in
derivational morphology in different target languages, including: Greek (Ch.
2), French (Ch. 3), Danish (Ch. 4), German (Ch. 5), Croatian (Ch. 6), Russian
(Ch. 7), Lithuanian (Ch. 8), Estonian (Ch. 9), Finnish (Ch. 10), and Turkish
(Ch. 11). Each of these languages stems from one of eight branches of four key
language families (namely Indo-European, Finno-Ugric, and Altaic). Using data
from the international cross-linguistic project on pre- and proto-morphology
in language acquisition (see Xanthos et al. 2011), the volume aims to be a
“first step towards a deeper understanding of the development of derivational
morphology in children” (Chapter 12: 300) and looks to stimulate further
discussion and research into the field of derivational morphology acquisition.
The longitudinal and spontaneous nature of the data analysed allows for
detailed, real-life examples of derivation acquisition processes to be
explored. Overall, the individual studies presented are engaging and make
valuable contributions to the first language acquisition field. 

The first two chapters focus on the early development of derivation in
children. In Chapter 2, Ursula Stephany explores the development of derivation
in early Greek first language acquisition. Using a computerised transcription
of audio-taped data of child speech (CS) and child-directed speech (CDS) from
the Katis Corpus, Stephany subdivides data from one Greek girl into three age
categories—1;8 to 1;11, 2;0 to 2;6, and 2;7 to 3;0—in order to trace the
development of derivation in CS. Results indicate that, simultaneously with
compounding, first derivational prefixes for nouns and verbs and diminutive
suffixes emerge from 1;8 onwards. Stephany found that in a comparison of CS
and CDS, derivational affixes are highly frequent and much more varied in CDS
than CS, thus productivity in CS is promoted from an early stage. Similarly,
Marianne Kilani-Schoch and Aris Xanthos (Chapter 3) focus on the early French
lexicon in two Swiss children (up to the age of 2;11). Extending the work in
Chapter 2, Chapter 3 compares CS with adult directed speech (ADS) as well as
CDS and discusses methodological and statistical measurement issues relating
to the identification of early signs of derivational development. 

The next two chapters offer key insights into derivational processes in
Germanic languages, particularly in relation to compounding. In Chapter 4,
Laila Kjærbæk and Hans Basbøll illustrate how in four Danish-speaking children
(ages up to 3;11), derivation appears almost simultaneously with compounding
and the first inflectional categories. Even though many derivational patterns
appear in CDS, only a few emerge in CS, and no new derivatives appear in the
corpus. Chapter 5, by Sabine Sommer-Lolei, Veronika Mattes, Katharina
Korecky-Kröll, and Wolfgang U. Dressler, shows that, similarly to the
Danish-speaking children, three German-speaking Viennese children (up to 3;0)
develop diminutives at the same time as compounding and first inflectional
categories. However, the acquisition process accelerates considerably during
preschool age. 

Chapters 6 to 8 are devoted to derivational acquisition in Balto-Slavic
languages. Gordana Hržica (Chapter 6) found that in three Croatian-speaking
children, early verbal and early nominal derivations increase in parallel, and
the number of affixes and proportion of derived words acquired increases with
age in the early stages of Croatian language development. Older children’s
speech shows productive uses of derivation, including more innovative uses,
such as derivational pairs, neologisms, and neosemantisms. Similar to
Stephany’s findings (Chapter 2), Gordana’s results show that CDS which uses a
high frequency of derived words has a strong influence on children’s
derivational acquisition. Victoria V. Kazakovskaya and Maria D. Voeikova
(Chapter 7) present a study of two Russian children (from 1;5 to 2;8 and 1;8
to 3;0). Comparisons between CS and CDS highlighted that children “mirror” the
most frequent and productive patterns caregivers use and patterns of
productive and morphosemantically transparent derivatives are the first to
emerge in all grammatical classes. Unlike other chapters, this study considers
the role of interindividual variation, finding it a strong factor in
derivational acquisition. In Chapter 8, Laura Kamandulytė-Merfeldienė, Ingrida
Balčiūnienė, and Ineta Dabašinskienė use longitudinal corpus data from two
Lithuanian children (1;7-2;7) to investigate suffixed and prefixed nouns,
verbs, and adjectives in CS and CDS. Findings illustrate that the emergence of
first derivational families appears between 1;8–1;9 and the number of errors
made also decreases rapidly at this stage. 

Chapters 9 to 11 turn to three agglutinating languages to explore the role of
more morphotactically transparent derivational affixes. In Chapter 9, Reili
Argus describes the acquisition of derivation in Estonian and presents an
analysis based on recorded, spontaneous speech of three Estonian children
(between 1;3 and 3;1). Findings show that the Estonian children started to use
first derivatives at the same time that first compounds and noun inflections
emerged. In Chapter 10, Klaus Laalo analyses the speech of two Finnish
children and their caregivers. By analysing diary data and derivational types
used in CS and DCS, Laalo illustrates that emergence and production of
derivational suffixes is dependent on frequency in CDS, as well as
productivity and transparency. Finally, in Chapter 11, F. Nihan Ketrez and
Ayhan Aksu-Koç examine the emergence of derivational morphology in nouns and
verbs in the speech of two Turkish-speaking children between 1;3 and 3;0. In
Turkish, suffixation is the major word-formation device and findings suggest
that derivational morphology emerges early (before age 3;0). As found in other
languages, the acquisition of derivational morphology is reflected in the
patterns experienced in CDS. 

EVALUATION 

The study of derivational morphology is not new. However, this volume offers
original, interesting insights into the early development of derivational
morphology by using data collected from longitudinal studies on ten different
languages. Each study offers a unique perspective on word formation, a domain
previously under-researched in morphological studies and language acquisition
work. Overall, the cross-linguistic approach taken allows the editors to
challenge previous findings. For example, past research on word formation
(e.g., Savickienė and Dressler 2007; Dressler et al. 2017; Clark 2014) found
that diminutives and compounds are the first nominal patterns to emerge.
However, in taking the first cross-linguistic approach to word-formation
pattern analysis, the editors are able to establish that, in addition to
diminutive nouns, derived lexemes emerge earlier than compounding in half the
languages explored (Chapter 12: 291). The comparison of different language
perspectives also enables consideration of how acquisition of different
structural features occurs. This is fundamental to considering which features
in first language development can be explained by universal processing
mechanisms rather than individual features of the target language and, most
importantly, how these features may interact. 

Ample reference is made to other work that concerns various approaches to
language acquisition research, such as phases of development, general word
formation preferences, and classification patterns of derivational morphology,
making this volume a useful reference for wider and future research. It
successfully complements other works that resulted from the international
cross-linguistic project on pre- and proto-morphology in children (Xanthos et
al. 2011), such as the development of verb inflection (Bittner et al. 2003)
and the semantics and morphology of early adjectives (Tribushininia et al.
2015), while allowing for new generalisations to be made about the
developmental language processes that can be observed in children, regardless
of the first language they acquire. Overall, the volume advances a broad
knowledge of the acquisition of derivational morphology, thus accomplishing
what it sets out to do. 

One of the main contributions of this edited volume is the diversity of
languages explored. The inclusion of ten different languages works to
highlight the importance of typological differences, i.e., the impact of
structural properties of the target language on emergence, use, and early
development of derivational patterns in child language. The languages selected
allow the reader to gain comparative insights into the derivational
morphological systems and, consequently, the outcomes of derivational patterns
in children’s speech. The volume is structured using the broad morphological
typology categories in which these languages sit, allowing for clear
similarities and differences to be drawn between the more fusional languages,
which are characterised by a higher percentage of non-transparent derivations
(e.g., Greek and French, but perhaps more so the Balto-Slavic languages), and
the agglutinating languages, which use a high number of mostly transparent
derivational affixes (e.g., Finnish, Turkish and, to a lesser extent,
Estonian). While the Germanic languages use a large number of derivational
patterns, they are primarily compounding. By situating the Germanic studies in
between the Greek and French studies and those of the Balto-Slavic languages,
the editors highlight the slight differences in the role of salience and
transparency on the emergence and productivity of derivational patterns. That
being said, this volume does not compare whole languages. Rather, it explores
relationships between smaller components of a language, i.e., derivational
processes, within the broader category of word formation. Consequently, this
volume could help to highlight the potential benefits and/or limitations of
current whole language comparison research, which might be useful for both
language acquisition and education linguists. 

Alongside offering systematic descriptions of cross-linguistic perspectives,
the volume’s second key strength is the comparison of child speech (CS) and
child directed speech (CDS) in the derivational acquisition process. The
relationship between CS and CDS is always an indirect one; CS does not
specifically mirror the patterns of CDS because children can only make use of
input structures that they can both explicitly perceive and “uptake” (Harris
1992) or integrate into the current language system (see Clark 2010). However,
through the languages studied in this volume, parallels between CS and CDS can
be identified. For example, in Chapter 6, the percentage of Croatian lemmas of
derived verbs was parallel in CS and CDS, but the percentage of derived nouns
was higher in CDS than CS. Likewise, in Chapter 5, German lemmas and tokens of
prefixed verbs were much more frequent in CDS than CS, as children appeared to
prefer using the more salient and transparent particle verbs. Conversely,
Chapters 7 and 9 illustrated that in Russian and Estonian there was no clear
influence of CDS on CS. While this volume takes a mostly theoretical approach
to language acquisition processes and, thus, may appeal more to researchers
than education practitioners, the implications of these findings could be
particularly useful to those in the early years sector and/or language
educators (particularly those who teach European languages). 

This volume set out to be a “first step towards a deeper understanding of the
development of derivational morphology in children” (Chapter 12: 300) and to
stimulate further discussion and research into the field of derivational
morphology acquisition. Due to the novelty of the research field and the
cross-linguistic nature of the results, it is reasonable to assume it will.
Kamandulytė-Merfeldienė, for example, has taken inspiration from the volume,
by drawing on evidence from Chapter 8 in her exploration of adjective
gradation acquisition in Lithuanian preschool children with developmental
language disorders (see Kamandulytė-Merfeldienė 2021). However, only time will
tell the extent of the volume’s influence. 

While the volume will likely appeal to a broad readership, it will be of
particular interest to readers of the “Language Acquisition and Language
Disorders” (LALD) series. The chapters of the book are notably similar to
those in Volume 61 of LALD (Dressler et al. 2017) and, in many ways, the two
publications complement one another, e.g., Stephany and Thomadaki (2017) and
Stephany (Chapter 2). It will also appeal to readers of “Language, Interaction
and Acquisition” (LIA) due to its focus on early stages of derivational
morphology acquisition in diverse speech-based learning situations, and
readers of “Languages in Contrast” (LiC) due to its focus on morphology in
numerous languages. 

There are, however, some limitations of the volume that warrant discussion. In
the Introduction, the editors define two primary acquisition stages:
premorphology and protomorphology. While the editors provide clear and
important definitions of these acquisitional phases (see Chapter 1: 7), they
are not consistently acknowledged or addressed throughout the chapters of the
volume. Kamandulytė-Merfeldienė et al. (Chapter 8) and, to a lesser extent,
Ketrez and Aksu-Koç (Chapter 11), identify transitional differences between
these phases most explicitly. The consideration of these different phases is a
particularly welcome contribution to the field, since morphology studies do
not often focus explicitly on the differences between development stages,
particularly where derivational acquisition is concerned. However, in many
other chapters, these developmental phases are not identified or acknowledged,
making it sometimes challenging to decipher which results may apply to which
development stage within the specific target language. Explanations of
age-based phases are considered within each chapter, but consistent
cross-references to the pre- and protomorphological phases outlined in the
beginning of the volume would have improved the overall clarity of the book
for readers with less experience in this area. 

While the volume certainly offers important contributions and cross-linguistic
perspectives to the field, the breadth of languages explored does make it
challenging to always understand how the derivative systems and patterns
explored fit within the wider language system. Some chapters, (i.e., Kjærbæk
and Basbøll, Chapter 4 and Sommer-Lolei et al., Chapter 5) provide clear
contextual overviews of how derivational morphology works in the target
language systems. Others, such as Kazakovskaya and Voeikova (Chapter 7), do
not provide this overview which, when exploring highly complex, multi-faceted
morphological systems, makes it challenging to assess the significance of the
findings. As such, readers might have benefited from consistent contextual
linguistic overviews in each chapter to help differentiate how derivational
morphology functions within different systems and the influence these patterns
have on study results. Contextual references are provided throughout the
volume, but more consistent overviews would have offered a clearer, broader
perspective on how derivational morphology functions within such varied
systems. 

One particularly interesting aspect of this volume is the use of longitudinal,
spontaneous interaction data. A result of this method is limited study
participant numbers, which does require consideration in relation to the
possibilities of generalising the results. However, the analysis of
spontaneous interactions between children and caregivers allows for a focus on
children’s everyday inputs and outputs, without relying on tests and,
therefore, outputs from relatively formal situations where awareness of
language usage is more likely to be heightened. Consequently, the volume
offers a different methodological approach to other morphological research
(e.g., Clark’s 1993 data from diary entries). Quantitative studies on
derivation started later, with much less focus on compounds, and, usually, a
focus on a single language, rather than cross-linguistic perspectives (e.g.,
Anglin 1993; Becker 1994; Behrens 1998). Additionally, the longitudinal nature
of the data allows for a more in-depth analysis of the early acquisition
phase. A notable disadvantage of the use of longitudinal data, particularly
without any supporting experimental data—which no studies in this volume
incorporate—is the individual variation in the speech situations recorded,
especially with regard to topics discussed. This variation makes
generalisations more difficult and, when combined with limited participant
numbers, require the results to be considered with some caution. Due to the
originality of the volume’s purpose and aims, the inclusion of experimental
data was beyond the scope of this research. However, this research highlights
possibilities for the relationship between naturally occurring data and
experimental work in further research. Future work would benefit from
supplementary experimental data for more in-depth investigation into specific
problems or phenomena, e.g., children’s development of semantic knowledge
alongside the acquisition of morphological knowledge. On the other hand,
experimental work would benefit from incorporating naturally occurring data in
order to explore real-life aspects of acquisitional language processes.

Study results could also have clear implications for language and education
professionals working in the early years sector. However, the connection
between theory and practical application is not made. While application is not
set out as a key aim or purpose of the volume, some results, and discussions
of CS and CDS— particularly those that also include comparisons with adult
directed speech (e.g., Chapter 3)—lend themselves directly to the
consideration of the role of adult input in derivational acquisition. This is,
though, perhaps the legacy of the volume. There are very few practical guides
on supporting the development of derivational morphology acquisition. Those
that do exist tend to focus on explaining what derivational
morphology/morphological awareness in first language acquisition is (e.g.,
Clark 2016; Fejzo et al. 2018), explore a single language (e.g., Bauer and
Nation 2020), or focus on second language acquisition (e.g., Miguel 2017).
While the reader might look to these texts for a more practical guide, all
also centre on children beyond the initial acquisition phase. As such, this
volume provides a foundation from which further research into how the early
phases of derivational morphology acquisition in numerous languages could be
supported in practice. 

In summary, this volume constitutes a broad and insightful investigation of
derivational morphology acquisition from a cross-linguistic perspective. The
editors acknowledge that the timing of the production of this volume means
that some more recent developments in the theory of derivational morphology
are not included (e.g., Hathout and Namer’s 2019 investigation into
derivational paradigms). However, collectively, the chapters work to
significantly advance psycholinguistic theories by evidencing the diverse
nature of derivational word forms and acquisitional processes. Overall, it
offers great potential to stimulate future practical guidance and research. 

REFERENCES

Anglin, J. M. 1993. Vocabulary development: A morphological analysis.
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 58 (10): 1-166. 

Bauer, L. and Nation, I. S. P. 2020. English Morphology for the Language
Teaching Profession. Oxon: Routledge. 

Becker, J. A., 1994. ‘Sneak-shoes, ‘sworders’, and ‘nose-beards’: A case study
of lexical innovation. First Language, 14: 195-211. 

Behrens, H. 1998. How difficult are complex verbs? Evidence from German, Dutch
and English. Linguistics, 36 (4): 679-712. 

Bittner, D., Dressler, W. U., & Kilani-Schoch, M. (eds.). 2003. Development of
Verb Inflection in First Language Acquisition: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective.
Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 

Clark, E. 1993. The Lexicon in Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

Clark, E. 2010. Adult offer, word-class, and child uptake in early lexical
acquisition. First Language, 30: 250-269. 

Clark, E. 2014. Acquisition of Derivational Morphology. In The Oxford Handbook
of Derivational Morphology, R. Lieber & P. Štekauer (eds.), 424-439. Oxford:
Oxford University Press. 

Clark, E. 2016. The Lexicon in Acquisition, 3rd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. 

Dressler, W. U., Ketrez, F. N. & Kilani-Schoch, M. (eds.). 2017. Nominal
compound acquisition (Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 61).
Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

Fejzo, A., Desrochers, A. & Deacon, H. 2018. The Acquisition of Derivational
Morphology in Children. In Morphological Processing and Literacy Development:
Current Issues and Research, R. Berthiaume, D. Daigle & A. Desrochers (eds.),
112-132. Oxfordshire: Routledge. 

Harries, M. 1992. Language Experience and Early Language Development: From
Input to Uptake. Hove: Psychology Press.

Hathout, N. & Namer, F. 2019. Paradigms in word formation: What are we up to?
Morphology, 29: 153-165. 

Kamandulytė-Merfeldienė, L. 2021. The acquisition of adjective gradation in
Lithuanian children with developmental language disorder at preschool and
pre-primary school age. Taikomoji Kalbotyra, 16: 76-85. 

Miguel, N. M. 2017. Instruction in derivational morphology in the Spanish L2
classroom: What do teachers believe and do? Konin Language Studies, 5 (1):
37-60. 

Savickienė, I & Dressler, W. U. 2007. The Acquisition of Diminutives: A
Cross-Linguistic Perspective (Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 43).
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Stephany, U. & Thomadaki, E. 2017. Compounding in Early Greek Language
Acquisition (Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 61). Amsterdam: John
Benjamins. 

Tribushinina, E., Voeikova, M. D., & Noccetti, S. (eds.). 2015. Semantics and
Morphology of Early Adjectives in First Language Acquisition. Newcastle upon
Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. 

Xanthos, A., et al. 2011. On the role of morphological richness in the early
development of noun and verb inflection. First Language, 31: 461-479.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Ellen Bristow is an ESRC-funded PhD researcher at Cardiff University’s Centre
for Language and Communication Research. Her research focuses on the role of
explicit morphology and etymology instruction in children's English vocabulary
development. Ellen has previously worked as a secondary school literacy
support teacher and an Education Research Policy Assistant for the Welsh
Government. She works as a tutor in Linguistics and academic writing at
Cardiff and Cardiff Metropolitan Universities and is interested in developing
policy and pedagogical strategies that support children from all backgrounds
access the literacy skills required for everyday success.





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