Learning from the input: a corpus-based investigation of Chinese classifiers in children’s books and child-directed speech

In Mandarin Chinese, numeral classifiers form a grammatical category that is syntactically obligatory when a noun is modified by a numeral or a demonstrative. The appropriate choice of a classifier is associated with the semantic properties of its corresponding noun and is context dependent. Experience with language is needed to learn these patterns, but little is known about how classifiers are structured in children’s language environments. We compared the frequency and distribution of classifier phrases in four corpora: child-directed speech, children’s television shows, children’s books, and adult-directed speech. Classifier usage in children’s books was more diverse than in both child-directed and adult speech. Books contained more specific classifiers that co-occurred with a higher proportion of unique nouns whereas everyday speech relied on more generic classifiers. Books therefore provide access to classifier-noun collocations that are rare in speech. Implications for language development and language processing are discussed.摘要：汉语数量名结构中，量词的选择与其搭配名词的语义特征关系密切且具有语境依赖性。然而，儿童如何从语境中习得数量名结构，目前学界对此知之甚少。为此，本研究考察了儿童导向言语（又称儿向语）、儿童电视节目、儿童读物和成人导向言语四类语料中量词短语的使用频率与分布特征，以探讨不同类型输入对儿童量词系统习得的潜在影响。结果显示，儿童读物中量词的多样性显著高于儿童导向言语和成人导向言语，且其中低频量词的占比更高（如“股”“缕”等），这类低频量词还与数量占比更高的独特名词搭配使用；相较之下，日常言语中使用较多的则是高频通用量词（如“个”“只”等）。上述结果表明，儿童读物可以为儿童提供日常言语中出现频率较低甚至完全缺失的量名搭配。这一发现凸显了儿童读物在儿童语言输入和语言发展中的独特作用。本文最后进一步讨论了阅读对语言习得与语言加工的潜在影响。