Articles
The Effect of Frequency in the Acquisition of Japanese Language Inflection
—Analysis of negative forms in the data of an independent learner—
2012 Volume 10 Pages 1-9
Details
2012 Volume 10 Pages 1-9
The purpose of this study is to investigate how frequency relates to the acquisition of Japanese language inflection. The type and token frequency of negative suffixes -nai, -kunai, -janai were analysed, using longitudinal data of an adult learner without formal instruction. The findings are as follows.
1) The ratios of negative suffixes -nai, -kunai, -janai in the learner's use are similar to those of Japanese native speakers. The acquisition of negative suffixes seems to proceed according to the input frequency.
2) The high type frequency of -janai promotes the extraction of the unit -janai from the sequence and contributes to the formation of the rule □+janai.
The high token frequency of -janai strengthens its association with the meaning of negation and causes overuse of -janai at the initial stage of acquisition.
3) Negative forms of verbs and i-adjectives are independently acquired by rote at the initial stage, but rules also gradually emerge according to their type frequency. The rule □+nai seems to be formed earlier than the rule □+kunai because of it's higher type frequency.
