GAPS in the Verb Lexicons of Children with Specific Language Impairment

• Published in: First language 1993-02, Vol.13 (1), p.113-131
• Main Authors: Rice, Mabel L, Bode, John V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0142-7237

The verb lexicons of preschool boys with specific language impairment (N = 3, aged 3:8-4:8) is studied by examining a corpus of 5,486 spontaneous utterances during a 3-month period. Ss exhibited late emergence of first words, beginnings of word combinations, & use of grammatical morphemes relative to their age-matched peers & their own cognitive & social skills. Ss showed an unusually high reliance upon a set of 11 general all-purpose verbs: want, go, get, do, put, need, come, did, look, make, & work, which were used 39%, 49%, & 51% of the time where verbs were required. Overall verb error rate was very low (2%) & verb usage conformed to expected rules of form class assignment & argument structure. Semantic mismarkings & on-line problems of stem retrieval are suggested by occasional substitution errors. Verb acquisition requires the mapping of referential & relational meanings, & it is thought that these verbs are substituted for more specific verbs that would fully convey the Ss' intended meaning because of Ss' inability to quickly map the semantics of events, allowing them to meet their immediate communicative needs, but not contributing to the acquisition of the elaborated subcategories of verbs essential for the development of a fully functional grammar. 3 Tables, 33 References. Adapted from the source document