The present study was designed to investigate the acquisition of Japanese “Joshis”, postpositional auxiliary words, in infants.
The subjects were 102 infants age 4, 5 and 6 years. They were asked to make oral compositions, looking at the presented pictures. Twenty-one pictures were presented. Fourteen of them were concrete objects, and the others were geometric figures.
The main results were as follows:(1) A group: developmental changes in the acquisition of Joshis were observed markedly between the ages of 4 and 5 years.
Kaku Joshi...NI, GA, O, DE, E
Kakari Joshi...WA, MO
Fuku Joshi...KA
Setsuzoku Joshi...TE, DE, KARA, NONI
Kantou Joshi...YO
(2) B group: developmental changes were observed markedly between the ages of 5 and 6 years.
Fuku Joshi...MADE
Setsuzoku Joshi...TO, NODE
(3) C group: the acquisition of Joshis developed gradually with age.
Kaku Joshi...TO, KARA, YA
Kantou Joshi...NE