"'The 'Moustache' Sits down First": On the Acquisition of Metonymy

Autor/inn/en	Falkum, Ingrid L.; Recasens, Marta; Clark, Eve V.
Titel	"'The 'Moustache' Sits down First": On the Acquisition of Metonymy
Quelle	In: Journal of Child Language, 44 (2017) 1, S.87-119 (33 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0305-0009
Schlagwörter	Language Acquisition; Preschool Children; Adults; Task Analysis; Language Processing; Age Differences; Metalinguistics; Language Usage + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Aufgabenanalyse; Sprachverarbeitung; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Metalanguage; Metasprache; Sprachgebrauch
Abstract	This study investigates preschoolers' ability to understand and produce novel metonyms. We gave forty-seven children (aged 2;9-5;9) and twenty-seven adults one comprehension task and two elicitation tasks. The first elicitation task investigated their ability to use metonyms as referential shorthands, and the second their willingness to name animates metonymically on the basis of a salient property. Although children were outperformed by adults, even three-year-olds could understand and produce metonyms in certain circumstances. Our results suggest that young children may find it easier to produce a metonym than a more elaborate referential description in certain contexts, and that metonymy may serve as a useful strategy in referring to entities that lack a conventional label. However, metonymy comprehension appeared to decrease with age, with older children tending to choose literal interpretations of some metonyms. This could be a result of growing metalinguistic awareness, which leads children to overemphasize literal meanings. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01