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Phonological vs. natural gender cues in the acquisition of German by simultaneous and sequential bilinguals (German–Russian)

Kupisch, Tanja LU ; Mitrofanova, Natalia and Westergaard, Marit (2021) In Journal of Child Language 49(4). p.661-683
Abstract
We investigate German–Russian bilingual children's sensitivity to formal and semantic cues when assigning gender to nouns in German. Across languages, young children have been shown to primarily rely on phonological cues, whereas sensitivity to semantic and syntactic cues increases with age. With its semi-transparent gender assignment system, where both formal and semantic cues are psycho linguistically relevant, German has weak phonological cues compared to other languages, and children have been argued to acquire semantic and phonological rules in tandem. German–Russian bilingual children face the challenge of acquiring two different gender assignment systems simultaneously. We tested 45 bilingual children (ages 4–10 years) and... (More)
We investigate German–Russian bilingual children's sensitivity to formal and semantic cues when assigning gender to nouns in German. Across languages, young children have been shown to primarily rely on phonological cues, whereas sensitivity to semantic and syntactic cues increases with age. With its semi-transparent gender assignment system, where both formal and semantic cues are psycho linguistically relevant, German has weak phonological cues compared to other languages, and children have been argued to acquire semantic and phonological rules in tandem. German–Russian bilingual children face the challenge of acquiring two different gender assignment systems simultaneously. We tested 45 bilingual children (ages 4–10 years) and monolingual controls. Results show that the children are clearly sensitive to phonological cues, while semantic cues play a minor role. However, monolingual and bilingual children have different defaulting strategies, with monolinguals defaulting to neuter and bilinguals to feminine gender. (Less)
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author
; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Grammatical Gender, Phonological Cues, German, Russian, Child Bilingualism
in
Journal of Child Language
volume
49
issue
4
pages
23 pages
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85106959892
ISSN
1469-7602
DOI
10.1017/S0305000921000039
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
71359997-67cd-47fb-b288-33c24e5ede6f
date added to LUP
2024-11-22 18:49:22
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:34:58
@article{71359997-67cd-47fb-b288-33c24e5ede6f,
  abstract     = {{We investigate German–Russian bilingual children's sensitivity to formal and semantic cues when assigning gender to nouns in German. Across languages, young children have been shown to primarily rely on phonological cues, whereas sensitivity to semantic and syntactic cues increases with age. With its semi-transparent gender assignment system, where both formal and semantic cues are psycho linguistically relevant, German has weak phonological cues compared to other languages, and children have been argued to acquire semantic and phonological rules in tandem. German–Russian bilingual children face the challenge of acquiring two different gender assignment systems simultaneously. We tested 45 bilingual children (ages 4–10 years) and monolingual controls. Results show that the children are clearly sensitive to phonological cues, while semantic cues play a minor role. However, monolingual and bilingual children have different defaulting strategies, with monolinguals defaulting to neuter and bilinguals to feminine gender.}},
  author       = {{Kupisch, Tanja and Mitrofanova, Natalia and Westergaard, Marit}},
  issn         = {{1469-7602}},
  keywords     = {{Grammatical Gender; Phonological Cues; German; Russian; Child Bilingualism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{661--683}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Child Language}},
  title        = {{Phonological vs. natural gender cues in the acquisition of German by simultaneous and sequential bilinguals (German–Russian)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305000921000039}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/S0305000921000039}},
  volume       = {{49}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}