Meiyun Chang-Smith provides an authoritative account
of the first language (L1) acquisition of Mandarin
Determiner Phrase (DP) in this ground breaking work,
the first to utilize grammatical aspects of the
Minimalist Program to explain early child Mandarin
data. The study is both theory and data driven,
leading the reader step by step along the
developmental pathway for Mandarin DP as exhibited by
the two child subjects, one monolingual and the other
a simultaneous Mandarin-English bilingual. Through
the inclusion of detailed and extensive examples from
the original corpora together with discussions and
analysis, this book reveals unique and original
insights into the L1 acquisition of a classifier
language possessing a DP with complex internal
structure. By careful comparison of both the
bilingual and the monolingual DP acquisition
patterns, the study reveals that simultaneous
bilingual and monolingual children pursue the same
developmental pathway during the course of
development of Mandarin DP. It sheds light on
fundamental issues in language acquisition such as
the continuity debate and will be a valuable resource
for students and practicing acquisition researchers
alike.
of the first language (L1) acquisition of Mandarin
Determiner Phrase (DP) in this ground breaking work,
the first to utilize grammatical aspects of the
Minimalist Program to explain early child Mandarin
data. The study is both theory and data driven,
leading the reader step by step along the
developmental pathway for Mandarin DP as exhibited by
the two child subjects, one monolingual and the other
a simultaneous Mandarin-English bilingual. Through
the inclusion of detailed and extensive examples from
the original corpora together with discussions and
analysis, this book reveals unique and original
insights into the L1 acquisition of a classifier
language possessing a DP with complex internal
structure. By careful comparison of both the
bilingual and the monolingual DP acquisition
patterns, the study reveals that simultaneous
bilingual and monolingual children pursue the same
developmental pathway during the course of
development of Mandarin DP. It sheds light on
fundamental issues in language acquisition such as
the continuity debate and will be a valuable resource
for students and practicing acquisition researchers
alike.