Revisiting the Epistemic Gap: It's Not the Thought That Counts

Autor/in	Cournane, Ailís
Titel	Revisiting the Epistemic Gap: It's Not the Thought That Counts
Quelle	In: Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics, 28 (2021) 3, S.215-240 (26 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1048-9223
DOI	10.1080/10489223.2020.1860054
Schlagwörter	Verbs; Language Acquisition; Inferences; Syntax; Linguistic Input; Epistemology; Grammar; Form Classes (Languages); Computational Linguistics; Semantics; Child Language; Preschool Children; Infants; Toddlers; Language Usage; Thinking Skills; Linguistic Theory; North American English; Child Development + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Sprachaneignung; Spracherwerb; Inference; Inferenz; Sprachbildung; Erkenntnistheorie; Grammatik; Analytischer Sprachbau; Linguistics; Computerlinguistik; Semantik; 'Children''s language'; Kindersprache; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Child; Children; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Infant; Toddler; Toddlers; Kleinkind; Infants; Sprachgebrauch; Denkfähigkeit; Linguistische Theorie; Amerikanisches Englisch; Kindesentwicklung
Abstract	This paper revisits the longstanding observation that children produce modal verbs (e.g., must, could) with their root meanings (e.g., abilities, obligations) by age 2, typically a year or more earlier than with their epistemic meanings (e.g., inferences). Established explanations for this "Epistemic Gap" argue that epistemic language production is delayed because small children can only reason about root meanings. However, root and epistemic uses of modal verbs also differ syntactically and in input representation. We present a corpus study on 17 English-learning children and their input, exploring early productions with both epistemic modal verbs and grammatically simpler and more frequent epistemic adverbs (e.g., maybe, probably). Results show that children use remarkably adult-like epistemic adverb sentences from even before age 2, when they are only producing modal verbs with root meanings. The Epistemic Gap is not well explained by general conceptual advancements. Instead, our data suggest input attestation and ease of form-to-meaning mapping may influence early child epistemic language. These findings are furthermore consistent with cross-linguistic differences in the timing of first epistemic uses of modal verbs, and with recent advancements in our understanding of infant and toddler modal reasoning abilities. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01