Topic and topic-comment structure in first language acquisition of Mandarin Chinese

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dc.contributor.advisorMeier, Richard P.
dc.creatorChen, Po-ting, 1981-
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-03T18:34:59Z
dc.date.available2017-01-03T18:34:59Z
dc.date.issued2007-12
dc.description.abstractMandarin Chinese has been characterized as a topic-prominent language with the prevalence use of topic-comment structures. Studies have shown that Chinese children are able to comprehend the concept of topic at their early age of syntax acquisition, but it is unclear how frequently are topic-comment structures produced in their spontaneous speech. This is a cross-sectional study of Chinese-speaking children, with the aim of determining the production frequency of topic-comment structures in four and six old children. Another goal of this study is to examine whether there are any developmental differences in the production of topic-comment structures between the two age groups. The results show that, contrary to what was expected, the production frequency of topic-comment structures is low in both age groups and there is no significant difference in the production frequency between them. It is concluded that, despite the low frequency, the few errors and variety of topic-comment structures produced suggest that Chinese children have acquired the topic-comment structure by the age of four although this is not manifested in their spontaneous speech production.en_US
dc.description.departmentLinguisticsen_US
dc.format.mediumelectronicen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.15781/T20V89M0H
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/44044
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.relation.ispartofUT Electronic Theses and Dissertationsen_US
dc.rightsCopyright © is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.en_US
dc.rights.restrictionRestricteden_US
dc.subjectMandarin Chineseen_US
dc.subjectTopic-comment structureen_US
dc.subjectChinese-speaking childrenen_US
dc.titleTopic and topic-comment structure in first language acquisition of Mandarin Chineseen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.genreThesisen_US
thesis.degree.departmentLinguisticsen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineLinguisticsen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Texas at Austinen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen_US

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