Frequency effects in language acquisition: a case study of plural forms in Brazilian Portuguese
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2008/02/0052/000111Keywords:
acquisition, plural, language use, frequency, schemasAbstract
This paper discusses the acquisition of plural forms of words that end in a back glide in Brazilian Portuguese and may take two plural forms: either –s (the regular suffix) or the suffix –is. Forty children were presented with picture cards containing words ending in a back glide and were asked to identify what they saw. Children’s answers presented the suffix –is for the vast majority of words rather than the regular plural suffix –s. Our results indicate that children abstract schemas rather than acquire default rules. The –is suffix has a very high frequency rate for words that end in a back glide, which leads to the establishment of robust schemas. We argue that the plural suffix –is is adopted by children due to frequency effects, which foments a very robust schema and enhances productivity.
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Copyright (c) 2008 Thais Cristófaro Silva (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
