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Part II - Constructions and meanings

Eve V. Clark
Eve V. Clark
Affiliation:
Stanford University, California
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Summary

[E]ven within a single language, grammar provides a set of options for schematizing experience for the purposes of verbal expression. Any utterance is multiply determined by what I have seen or experienced, my communicative purpose in telling you about it, and the distinctions that are embodied in my grammar.

Dan I. Slobin 1996

Words are not coined in order to extract the meanings of their elements and compile a new meaning from them. The meaning is there FIRST, and the coiner is looking for the best way to express it without going to too much trouble.

Dwight Bolinger 1975

  1. Chapter 7: First combinations, first constructions ▪ 151

  2. Chapter 8: Modulating word meanings ▪ 176

  3. Chapter 9: Adding complexity within clauses ▪ 199

  4. Chapter 10: Combining clauses: More complex constructions ▪ 229

  5. Chapter 11: Constructing words ▪ 254

The focus in these chapters is on the steps children take as they express more elaborate meanings, beyond one word at a time. They must find out which constructions to use for particular meanings and which words go in each construction. They work out which inflections can be applied to different word-types (nouns, verbs, and adjectives) and what meaning each one adds; how to present information to the addressee and what perspective to use as speaker; how to combine clauses in talking about complex events; how to analyze complex words and coin new ones.

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First Language Acquisition , pp. 149 - 150
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

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  • Constructions and meanings
  • Eve V. Clark, Stanford University, California
  • Book: First Language Acquisition
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511806698.008
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  • Constructions and meanings
  • Eve V. Clark, Stanford University, California
  • Book: First Language Acquisition
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511806698.008
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Constructions and meanings
  • Eve V. Clark, Stanford University, California
  • Book: First Language Acquisition
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511806698.008
Available formats
×