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guarantee that the child would arrive at the correct language? Show
why.
3.
Imagine a verb pilk that means "to have both of one's elbows
grabbed by someone else," so John pilked Bill meant that Bill
grabbed John's elbows.
a. Why is this verb unlikely to occur in English?
b. If children use semantic context and semantic-syntax linking
rules to bootstrap their way into a language, what would a
languageless child infer about English upon hearing "This is
pilking" and seeing Bill grab John'selbows?
c. If children use semantic context and semantics-syntax linking
rules to bootstrap their way into a language, what would a
languageless child infer about English upon hearing "John pilked
Bill" and seeing Bill grab John's elbows?
d. If children use semantic context and semantics-syntax linking
rules to bootstrap their way into a language, what would a child
have to experience in order to learn English syntax and the correct
use of the word pilk?
13 Answers to Problems
1.
a. No. Presumably Mother also expresses disapproval for
other reasons, such as Junior uttering a rude or false -- but
grammatical -- sentence. If Junior were to assume that
disapproved-of sentences were ungrammatical, he would
spuriously eliminate many grammatical sentences from his
language.
b. No, because Father may also reward him when he speaks
ungrammatically and punish him when he speaks grammatically.