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How Children’s Relatives Solve a Problem for Minimalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2026

Dana McDaniel ,
Cecile McKee  and
Judy B. Bernstein
Dana McDaniel*
Affiliation:
University of Southern Maine
Cecile McKee
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
Judy B. Bernstein
Affiliation:
University of Southern Maine
*
Dana McDaniel, Linguistics, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME 04104 [rxa364@usm.maine.edu]
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Abstract

Current work in syntax reexamines basic properties of movement. Under the minimalist assumptions of Chomsky (1995), movement is prohibited unless forced by grammatical considerations. From a set of comparable derivations, the one involving the least amount of moved material should therefore block other derivations. Within this framework, any cases of optional movement are problematic. We addressed this issue with experiments on stranding and pied-piping in relative clauses in 115 English learners, aged 3;5 to 11;11, and an adult control group. All subjects participated in an elicited production experiment and a grammaticality judgment experiment. Our findings suggest that pied-piping is possible in young children’s grammars only when stranding is ruled out, as predicted by minimalism. We claim the children’s responses represent the ‘natural’ grammar while the adults’ responses reflect a prescriptive artifact. We also found a discrepancy in all subject groups between production and judgments of the genitive pied-piping construction. We account for this finding with Kayne’s (1994) analysis of relative clauses.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 74 , Issue 2 , June 1998 , pp. 308 - 334
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 by Linguistic Society of America

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