Rights statement: “The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, First Language, 32 (4), 2012, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2012 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the First Language page: http://fla.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Early production of the passive in two Eastern Bantu languages
AU - Alcock, Katherine
AU - Rimba, Ken
AU - Newton, Charles R. J. C.
N1 - “The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, First Language, 32 (4), 2012, © SAGE Publications Ltd, 2012 by SAGE Publications Ltd at the First Language page: http://fla.sagepub.com/ on SAGE Journals Online: http://online.sagepub.com/
PY - 2012/11
Y1 - 2012/11
N2 - The passive construction is acquired relatively late by children learning to speak many languages, with verbal passives not fully acquired till age 6 in English. In other languages it appears earlier, around age 3 or before. Use of passive construction in young children was examined in two Eastern Bantu languages spoken in Kenya (Kiswahili and Kigiriama), both with frequent use of passive. The passive was used productively very early (2;1) in these languages, regardless of the method used to measure productivity. In addition non-actional passives, particularly rare in English and some other European languages, were seen at these early ages. The proportion of verbs that were passive varied between individuals, both in children's speech and in the input to children. Pragmatic and grammatical features of the passive in some languages have previously been suggested to drive early passive acquisition, but these features are not found consistently in the two languages studied here. Findings suggest that the relatively high frequency of input found in these languages is the most plausible reason for early productive use of the passive.
AB - The passive construction is acquired relatively late by children learning to speak many languages, with verbal passives not fully acquired till age 6 in English. In other languages it appears earlier, around age 3 or before. Use of passive construction in young children was examined in two Eastern Bantu languages spoken in Kenya (Kiswahili and Kigiriama), both with frequent use of passive. The passive was used productively very early (2;1) in these languages, regardless of the method used to measure productivity. In addition non-actional passives, particularly rare in English and some other European languages, were seen at these early ages. The proportion of verbs that were passive varied between individuals, both in children's speech and in the input to children. Pragmatic and grammatical features of the passive in some languages have previously been suggested to drive early passive acquisition, but these features are not found consistently in the two languages studied here. Findings suggest that the relatively high frequency of input found in these languages is the most plausible reason for early productive use of the passive.
KW - Language acquisition
KW - Passive acquisition
KW - Bantu languages
KW - Kiswahili
KW - Kigiriama
KW - Kenya
KW - Child language
U2 - 10.1177/0142723711419328
DO - 10.1177/0142723711419328
M3 - Journal article
VL - 32
SP - 459
EP - 478
JO - First Language
JF - First Language
SN - 0142-7237
IS - 4
ER -