Abstract
Usage-based approaches suggest that children gradually build abstract syntactic patterns, called constructions, through processes of abstraction and schematization from the input they receive. Bilingual children have the challenge of learning two sets of non-equivalent constructions when they build their constructicon. This can result in deviations from monolinguals, which are commonly referred to as transfer. Targeting the expression of the caused-motion construction, the present study focuses on idiosyncratic utterances, those that do not correspond to monolingual adult language use, in three different age groups (4, 6, and 8 years old) of German–French bilingual children in comparison to monolingual control groups. The quantitative analysis showed that idiosyncrasies could be found in both groups, but with significantly higher rates in bilinguals at all ages. In a qualitative analysis, idiosyncratic utterances were clustered into three different types: syntactic patterns, use of verbs, and directional phrases. Regarding the analysis of these types, the influence of French could be shown. In order to classify this linguistic phenomenon in a usage-based approach, we propose to consider transfer as a form of overgeneralization within the bilingual constructicon.
Highlights
Languages 6: 25. https://doi.org/The field of multilingualism is becoming increasingly important in the context of usage-based approaches (Tomasello 2003), after a long time spent focusing only on English and predominantly on monolingual speakers (Boas 2010)
In order to classify this linguistic phenomenon in a usage-based approach, we propose to consider transfer as a form of overgeneralization within the bilingual constructicon
Transfer has only been discussed within the usage-based framework for a short time, in the field of first language acquisition
Summary
The field of multilingualism is becoming increasingly important in the context of usage-based approaches (Tomasello 2003), after a long time spent focusing only on English and predominantly on monolingual speakers (Boas 2010). Transfer has only been discussed within the usage-based framework for a short time (see Wasserscheidt 2016 for a Construction Grammar perspective, which is closely related to usage-based approaches), in the field of first language acquisition. In the context of a (developing) bilingual constructicon (Höder 2012; see Section 1.2), i.e., the mental representation of linguistic units, it seems necessary to deal with this phenomenon and to examine whether it can be explained within the format of constructions
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