Acquisition of Verb Morphology in Young Japanese Children

Abstract

In order to facilitate acquisition of language in language-delayed children, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of language acquisition of typically developing children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the order of acquisition of four types of verb forms (the past-tense form V-ta, the non-past tense form V-ru, the aspectual form V-teru, and the negative marker V-nai). We used elicited production tasks for 95 typically developing children aged 1:09 to 2:11. The results were as follows. In the youngest group (1:09-1:11), the percentage of children who used V-ta was the highest, followed by V-nai, V-teru, and V-ru. Children who produced only one form used V-ta, and children who produced two forms tended to use V-nai in addition to V-ta. Children who produced three forms used V-teru or V-ru in addition to two other forms. Some children used all four forms, and while the percentage of children who used four forms was only 9.1% in the youngest group, it increased to 76.2% in the group aged 2:03-2:05. These results suggest that children acquire V-ta first, then V-nai, followed by V-teru and V-ru, and that these four forms are all acquired before the age of 2 years and 6 months.