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On the Child's Acquisition of Semantic Structure Underlying the Wordfield of Prepositions

Spontaneously produced prepositional phrases of 115 preschoolers, 2.7-5.11 years old and of 22 first-graders are analysed. Our main interest lies in anomalous combinations since these allow us to establish which features and selection restrictions responsible for the anomaly the children have not yet acquired. The main results are as follows: (a) the development sequence of spatial prepositions concurs with the development of spatio-geometric properties shown by Piaget. This is suggested by the distribution of frequencies of used prepositions as well as by the systematic replacements of complex by simple prepositions. (b) Temporal prepositions are much rarer than spatial ones. Only such temporal prepositions occur which are also used in a locative sense. Substitutions among prepositions indicate a still incomplete distinction between concrete-local and abstract-temporal notions. (c) Purely grammatical prepositions are acquired within a gradual process of voiding of semantic meaning. The general validity of resulting rules and the existing interrelation between structural changes in language and cognition is dealt with in the discussion.