Adversative Passives in Thai Child Language: A Lexicase Analysis
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Abstract
This study provides systematic elicited production data on Thai adversative passives in children, contributing to the limited literature on passive acquisition in isolating languages. Using a Lexicase syntactic analysis, the study examines the predominant adversative passive constructions, marked by the passive markers thùuk and doon. The study investigated the production of 138 children aged 2 to 5 years through experimental tasks and semi-structured interviews, compared with an adult baseline production.
Findings revealed that children produced passive constructions early and accurately. In the experiment, the canonical passive pattern (Pattern 4) emerged at age 2, with high target accuracy maintained across the preschool years (86.8%, 95% CI [80.3%, 91.4%]), which confirms robust productive command of the canonical Thai adversative passive pattern. Lexical verbs in passive constructions were predominantly adversative actional verbs, consistent with the adversative nature of the Thai passive markers thùuk and doon. The extended passive pattern with body-part noun phrases (Pattern 5) emerged at ages 2–3, requiring both Patient-to-Patient control and semantic part-whole understanding. Adults produced a more elaborate passive variant not observed in children’s data. This suggests that passive elaboration continues beyond age 5. Grammatical development progressed from basic, canonical passives at age 2 to extended forms at age 3, with more elaborate patterns at age 5, establishing developmental milestones in Thai adversative passive production.
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บทความทุกบทความเป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของภาษาและภาษาศาสตร์
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