Experimental Test of the Hypothesis: Acquisition of English Relativization

In this chapter, moving beyond observational studies of natural speech alone, we report the systematic design, method, and results of an experiment in English concerning our hypotheses that acquisition of relativization in a language-specific grammar is developmentally achieved through constraint by a UG template relating Determiner Phrases and Complementizer Phrases. Headless relatives are developmental precursors for headed relatives over the course of development of a specific language grammar. This experiment provides a prototype for the experimental work in the following two chapters, which focus on French and Tulu. Comparisons of production and comprehension in this English study and experimental design both allow this study to address the effects of syntax and semantics and their integration in the developmental course of relativization. Growth curve analyses across these tasks allow us to refine our understanding of the nature and timing of their integration in development.