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Modeling the Development of Children's Use of Optional Infinitives in Dutch and English Using MOSAIC
Author(s) -
Freudenthal Daniel,
Pine Julian M.,
Gobet Fernand
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.498
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1551-6709
pISSN - 0364-0213
DOI - 10.1207/s15516709cog0000_47
Subject(s) - syntax , phenomenon , mosaic , linguistics , computer science , utterance , infinitive , grammar , optimality theory , key (lock) , natural language processing , language acquisition , artificial intelligence , psychology , phonology , history , verb , philosophy , physics , computer security , archaeology , quantum mechanics
In this study we use a computational model of language learning called model of syntax acquisition in children (MOSAIC) to investigate the extent to which the optional infinitive (OI) phenomenon in Dutch and English can be explained in terms of a resource‐limited distributional analysis of Dutch and English child‐directed speech. The results show that the same version of MOSAIC is able to simulate changes in the pattern of finiteness marking in 2 children learning Dutch and 2 children learning English as the average length of their utterances increases. These results suggest that it is possible to explain the key features of the OI phenomenon in both Dutch and English in terms of the interaction between an utterance‐final bias in learning and the distributional characteristics of child‐directed speech in the 2 languages. They also show how computational modeling techniques can be used to investigate the extent to which cross‐linguistic similarities in the developmental data can be explained in terms of common processing constraints as opposed to innate knowledge of universal grammar.