Factivity: Its Nature and Acquisition / / Petra Schulz.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DGBA Backlist Complete English Language 2000-2014 PART1
• VerfasserIn: Schulz, Petra,
• Place / Publishing House: Tübingen : : Max Niemeyer Verlag, , [2012]; ©2003
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Edition: Reprint 2012
• Language: English
• Series: Linguistische Arbeiten , 480
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (252 p.) :; Num. figs.

Challenging existing lexical-semantic accounts, this book presents a compositional approach to factivity and its acquisition. Factive sentences such as ›John forgot that he bought wine‹ presuppose the truth of the embedded complement. The author argues that factivity results from the interaction of lexical-semantic, syntactic, and discourse-semantic factors. Rigorously designed experiments and a detailed analysis of longitudinal corpora provide evidence that the multidimensionality is mirrored in the acquisition process by a stepwise mastery of its different components. This book should be of interest to advanced students and researchers in both theoretical linguistics and language acquisition.

Challenging existing lexical-semantic accounts, this book presents a compositional approach to the concept of factivity and its acquisition. Factive sentences such as 'John forgot that he bought wine' presuppose the truth of the embedded complement. The author argues that a satisfactory characterization of factivity can only be accomplished if its multiple dimensions are acknowledged. A thorough examination of the empirical data demonstrates that factivity, rather than being a property of the matrix predicate, results from the complex interaction of lexical-semantic, syntactic, and discourse-semantic factors. Focusing on English, the predictions of this compositional approach to factivity are tested with production and comprehension data covering children's acquisitional patterns between the ages of 2 and 8. After a comprehensive review of previous studies, the author presents two rigorously designed comprehension experiments and a detailed analysis of two longitudinal corpora. The child data provides convincing evidence that the multidimensionality of factivity is mirrored in the acquisition process by a stepwise mastery of its different components. Children produce and correctly interpret factive structures around age 4, but certain syntactic and discourse-semantic properties are not learned before age 7. This book should be of interest to advanced students and researchers in both theoretical linguistics and language acquisition.

Table of Contents

i-iv -- Acknowledgements -- Table of contents -- List of Tables and Figures -- Abbreviations and Conventions -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Lexical-Semantic and Syntactic Aspects of Factivity -- 3. Presupposition and Factivity -- 4. The Structure of Factive and Nonfactive Sentences -- 5. Factivity in Language Acquisition -- 6. Towards a Developmental Model -- 7. Experimental Studies -- 8. Conclusion -- Appendix -- References