In the first person: Pronoun-verb utterances in Russian children’s speech
DOI:10.30842/alp2306573720198142
Kazakovskaya V. V. Ot pervogo litsa:
mestoimenno-glagolnyye vyskazyvaniya v russkoy detskoy rechi.
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 98–142.
Based on the data of three longitudinal corpora of child speech focusing on typically developing Russian-speaking children (1;8–3;0), the study addresses the acquisition of the 1st person pronoun forms in the Nominative case in combination with verbs belonging to the grammatical center of personality. Spontaneous speech data were transcribed and morphologically coded according to CHILDES [MacWhinney 2000]. The analysis also accommodates Gvozdev’s diary observations on the grammatical structure formation in his son’s speech [1949, 1990].
For the first time, the development of the subject-predicate agreement mechanism is juxtaposed with the formation of the propositional relationship, whose means of expression are interpreted as the language of the Theory of Mind (ToM), that is mental state language. Its initial representatives in child speech are egocentric elements with epistemic semantics in the natural dialogue, such as navernoe ‘probably’, mozhet byt’ ‘maybe’, konechno ‘of course’, deystvitel’no ‘really’ used with respect to the speaker (the 1st person).
The conditions triggering the grammatical processes under study are identified. Thus, the trigger for the pronoun-verb agreement is the verb spurt while the use of epistemic markers seems to be impossible without successful first-person agreement, and it is at this stage that they appear sporadically in children’s speech. Later, epistemic markers, being a reduced version of the mental modus, come to be used along with their unreduced/full variants, such as Ya dumayu / (ne) znayu / boyus, chto (P) ‘I think / (don’t) know / am afraid that (P)’. In its turn, the use of the first person verb utterances in the frame position becomes a prerequisite for the subsequent placement of you- and (s)he-subjects of the propositional evaluation into it. Their use signals the children’s ability not only to separate their own point of view from that of the Other, but also to put themselves into their own mental world.
The general and individual aspects of the acquisition of first person verb utterances occupying different syntactic positions are discussed. In particular, despite the similar frequency of the expression of temporal and communicative features of the proposition, the frequency of its modal vs. modus characteristics varies significantly. The obtained results correspond to the cognitive psychology conclusions on the different levels of ToM. Also, they are consistent with the analyses of mental state language in children’s written argumentative texts which showed a correlation between the frequency of the use of mental state language and the child’s academic success.
Keywords
References
J. W. Astington, J. A. Baird. Why
language matters for theory of mind. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2005. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195159912.001.0001.
J. W. Astington, J. M. Jenkins. A
longitudinal study of the relation between language and
theory-of-mind development. Developmental Psychology.
1999. Vol. 35. № 5. P. 1311–1320. DOI:
10.1037/0012-1649.35.5.1311.
N. D. Arutyunova. Predlozhenie i
proizvodnyye ot nego znacheniya [Utterance and its derivative
meanings] N. D. Arutyunova. Yazyk i mir cheloveka
[Language and the human world]. Moscow: Yazyki russkoy kultury,
1999. P. 403–542.
S. Baron-Cohen, M. Lombardo, H.
Tager-Flusberg (eds.). Understanding other minds. Perspectives
from developmental social neuroscience. 3rd edition. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2000. DOI:
10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199692972.001.0001.
К. Bartsch, Н. К. Wellman.
Children talk about the mind. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1995.
А. V. Bondarko. Funktsionalnaya
grammatika [Functional grammar]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1984.
А. V. Bondarko. Semantika litsa
[Semantics of personality]. А. V. Bondarko (ed.). Teoriya
funktsionalnoy grammatiki: Personalnost. Zalogvost [Theory of
functional grammar: Personality. Voice]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1991. P.
5–40.
Т. Charman, Y. Shmueli-Goetz. The
relationship between theory of mind, language and narrative
discourse: An experimental study. Current Psychology of
Cognition. 1998. Vol. 17. № 2. P. 245–271.
Е. I. Chiglova. Strategii
osvoeniya kategorii litsa v russkom yazyke [The strategies of
person acquisition in Russian]. Unpublished PhD dissertation.
Cherepovets: Cherepovets State University, 2019.
G. R. Dobrova. Ontogenez
personalnogo deyksisa (lichnyye mestoimeniya i terminy
rodstva) [The acquisition of personal deixis: personal
pronouns and kinship terms]. St. Petersburg: Hertsen State
University Press, 2003.
J. H. Flavell.
Theory-of-mind-development: Retrospect and prospect.
Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. 2004. Vol. 50. № 3. Р. 274–290.
Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23096166 (accessed on
20.01.2024).
А. N. Gvozdev. Formirovaniye u
rebenka grammaticheskogo stroya russkogo yazyka [Formation of
the grammatical structure of the Russian language in a child]. In 2
parts. Moscow: Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Russian Soviet
Federative Socialist Republic Press, 1949.
А. N. Gvozdev. Razvitiye
slovarnogo zapasa v pervyye gody zhizni rebenka [Vocabulary
development in the first years of a child’s life]. Kuybyshev:
Saratov University Press, 1990.
C. M. Hale, H. Tager-Flusberg. The
influence of language on theory of mind: A training study.
Developmental science. 2003. Vol. 6. № 3. P. 346–359. DOI:
10.1111/1467-7687.00289.
V. V. Kazakovskaya. Yazykovoye i
cognitivnoye v usvoenii epistemicheskoy modalnosti [Language and
cognitive aspects in the acquisition of epistemic modality].
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 2017. Vol. XIII. Pt. 3. P.
542–575.
V. Kazakovskaya. Epistemic modality
in the speech of Russian young children and adolescents.
Philologia Estonica Tallinnensis. Languages, orderings and
successions. 2020. Vol. 5. Р. 134–166. DOI:
10.22601/PET.2020.05.05.
V. Kazakovskaya. Epistemic modality
in Russian child language. U. Stephany, A. Aksu-Koç (eds.).
Development of Modality in First Language Acquisition: A
Cross-Linguistic Perspective. [SOLA [Studies of Language
Acquisition] 54]. Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2021. P.
421–453. DOI: 10.1515/9781501504457-012.
V. Kazakovskaya. Feedback in verb
acquisition: Evidence from Russian ‘adult — child’ interaction. V.
Warditz (ed.). Russian Grammar: System — Usus — Variation /
Russkaya grammatika: Sistema — uzus — varyirovaniye.
[Linguistica Philologica, 1]. Berlin: Peter Lang Verlag, 2021. P.
245–270. DOI: 10.3726/b19724.
V. V. Kazakovskaya. Sredstva
subyektivatsii v tekstakh detey 11–12 let: Ya i
Drugoy [Means of subjectivation in texts by 11–12 years
old children: Myself and the Other]. M. L. Kisilier (ed.).
Verus convictor, verus academicus. К 70-letiyu Nikolaya
Nikolaevicha Kazanskogo [To the 70th anniversary of Nikolay
Nikolaevich Kazansky]. St. Petersburg: Institute for Linguistic
Studies RAS Press, 2022. P. 312–320.
V. V. Kazakovskaya. Lichnyye
mestoimeniya i ikh propusk (pro-drop) na rannikh etapakh
usvoeniya russkogo yazyka [Personal pronouns and pro-drop in the
early stages of language acquisition]. Trudy Instituta russkogo
yazyka im. V. V. Vinogradova. 2024. № 2 (40). P.
133–149.
V. V. Kazakovskaya, М. V. Gavrilova.
«Moye mnenie, chto …»: subyektivnoye nachalo v pismennom diskurse
shkolnikov [“My opinion is that…”: the subjective introduction in
school students’ written discourse]. Russkiy yazyk v
shkole. 2021. № 82 (6). P. 31–43. DOI: 10.30515/0131-
6141-2021-82-6-31-43.
V. V. Kazakovskaya, N. K. Onipenko.
Grammatika tochki zreniya: vvodno-modalnyye slova v rechi vzroslykh
i detey [Grammar of the speaker’s point of view: parenthetical
modal words in the speech of adults and children]. V. V.
Kazakovskaya, М. D. Voeikova (eds.). Problemy funktsionalnoy
grammatiki: Otnosheniye k govoryashchemu v semantike
grammaticheskikh kategoriy [Problems of functional grammar:
Attitude towards the speaker in the semantics of grammatical
categories]. Moscow: YaSK, 2020. P. 246–288.
V. Kazakovskaya, R. Argus, S.
Uziel-Karl. The Early Expression of (Un)certainty in Typologically
Different Languages: Evidence from Russian, Estonian and Hebrew.
Philologia Estonica. On Language and Culture. 2018. Vol.
3. P. 93–130. DOI: 10.22601/PET.2018.03.04.
Т. А. Кolosova, М. I. Cheremisina. O
terminakh i ponyatiyakh opisaniya semantiki sintaksicheskikh
edinits [On the terms and concepts for describing the semantics of
syntactic items]. L. G. Panin, M. I. Cheremisina (eds.).
Sintaksicheskaya i leksicheskaya semantika (na materiale
yazykov raznykh sistem) [Syntax and lexical semantics (based
on the languages of different systems)]. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1986.
P. 10–32.
S. V. Krasnoshchekova.
Mestoimennyy deyksis v russkoy detskoy rechi [Pronominal
deixis in Russian children’s speech]. Unpublished PhD dissertation.
St. Petersburg: Institute for Linguistic Studies RAS, 2016.
P. А. Lekant. Struktura
sintaksicheskoy kategorii litsa [The structure of the syntactic
category of person]. P. А. Lekant. Ocherki po grammatike
russkogo yazyka [Essays on Russian grammar]. Мoscow: Moscow
State Regional University Press, 2002. P. 133–138.
N. I. Lepskaya. Yazyk rebenka
(Оntogenez rechevoy kommunikatsii) [Child language (The
ontogenesis of verbal communication)]. М.: Moscow State University
Press, 1997.
N. D. Arutyunova (ed.).
Logicheskiy analiz yazyka. Izbrannoye [Logical analysis of
language. Favorites]. 1988–1995. Moscow: Indrik, 2003.
H. Lohmann, M. Tomasello. The role of
language in the development of false belief understanding: A
training study. Child Development. 2003. Vol. 74. № 4. P.
1130–1144. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00597.
B. MаcWhinney. The CHILDES
project: tools for analyzing talk. 3rd edition. Mahwah-New
Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000.
G. Markova, F. Smolik. What do you
think? The relationship between person reference and communication
about the mind in toddlers. Social Development. 2014. Vol.
23. № 1. P. 61–79. DOI: 10.1111/sode.12044.
G. Mazzaggio. The Theory of Mind’s
role in pronoun acquisition: The phenomenon of pronoun reversal in
typically developing children. Studies in the Linguistic
Sciences: Illinois Working Papers. University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign. 2016. Р. 55–69. Available at:
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/101447 (accessed on 20.01.2024).
J. Meins, C. Fernyhough, F. Johnson,
J. Lidstone. Mind mindedness in children: Individual difference in
internal state talk in middle childhood. British Journal of
Developmental Psychology. 2006. Vol. 24. № 1. P.
181–196.
K. Milligan, J. W. Astington, L. A.
Dack. Language and theory of mind: Meta-analysis of relationship
between language ability and false belief understanding. Child
Development. 2007. Vol. 78. P. 622–646. DOI:
10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01018.x.
J. Nuyts, J. van der Auwera (eds.).
The Oxford handbook of modality and mood. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2016.
D. K. O’Neill, R. M. Shultis. The
emergence of the ability to track a character’ mental perspective
in narrative. Developmental Psychology. 2007. Vol. 43. №
4. P. 1032–1037. DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.43.4.1032.
Е. V. Paducheva.
Egotsentricheskiye elementy yazyka [Egocentric elements of
language]. Moscow: Yazyki slavyanskikh kultur, 2019.
J. Pelletier, J. W. Astington.
Action, consciousness and theory of mind: Children’s ability to
coordinate story characters’ actions and thoughts. Early
Education and Development. 2004. Vol. 15. P. 5–22. DOI:
10.1207/s15566935eed1501_1.
N. Y. Shvedova (ed.). Russkaya
grammatika. Т. II [Russian Grammar. Vol. II]. Moscow: Nauka,
1980.
Е. А. Sergienko, Е. I. Lebedeva, О.
А. Prusakova. Model psikhicheskogo kak osnova stanovleniya
ponimaniya sebya i drugogo v ontogeneze cheloveka [Theory of
mind as a fundament of understanding self and the other in the
course of human development]. Moscow: Institute of Psychology RAS
Press, 2009.
Е. А. Sergienko, А. Yu. Ulanova, Е.
I. Lebedeva. Model psikhicheskogo: Struktura i dinamika
[Theory of mind: Structure and dynamics]. Moscow: Institute of
Psychology RAS Press, 2020.
C. T.-S. Siu, H. Cheung. A
longitudinal reciprocal relation between theory of mind and
language. Cognitive development. 2022. Vol. 62. P. 1–15.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2022.101176.
D. K. Symons, C. C. Peterson, V.
Slaughter, J. Roche, E. Doyle. Theory of mind and mental state
discourse during book reading and storytelling tasks. British
Journal of Developmental Psychology. 2005. Vol. 23. № 1. P.
81– 102. DOI: 10.1348/026151004X21080.
A. V. Bondarko (ed.). Teoriya
funktsionalnoy grammatiki: Temporalnost. Modalnost [Theory of
functional grammar: Temporality. Modality]. Leningrad: Nauka,
1990.
V. Tompkins, M. J. Farrar, D. E.
Montgomery. Speaking your mind: language and narrative in young
children’s theory of mind development. Advances in Child
Development and Behavior. 2019. Vol. 56. P. 109–140. DOI:
10.1016/bs.acdb.2018.11.003.
А. Yu. Ulanova. Kharakteristiki
narrativov detey s raznym urovnem ponimaniya psikhicheskikh
sostoyaniy [Narratives of children with different levels of
understanding of mental states]. Psikhologiya. Zhurnal Vysshey
shkoly ekonomiki. 2020. Vol. 17. № 4. P. 779–790. DOI:
10.17323/1813-8918-2020-4-779-790.
М. D. Voeikova. Lichnye mestoimeniya
v potoke rechi i ikh vklad v stanovleniye yazykovoy sistemy
[Personal pronouns in the stream of speech and their role in the
development of the language system]. М. А. Elivanova, S. V.
Krasnoshchekova, V. A. Levchenko (eds.). Problemy
ontolingvistiki — 2021: yazykovaya sistema rebenka v situatsii
odno- i mnogoyazychiya. Materialy ezhegodnoy mezhdunarodnoy
nauchnoy konferentsii [Problems of ontolinguistics — 2021: the
language system of a child of monolingual and multilingual
settings. Proceedings of the annual international scientific
conference]. St. Petersburg: VVM, 2021. P. 23–32.
M. D. Voeikova, S. V.
Krasnoshchekova. The use of pronouns as a developmental factor in
early Russian language acquisition. N. Gagarina, R. Musan (eds.).
Referential and Relational Discourse Coherence in Adults and
Children. Boston; Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 2020. P. 171–206.
DOI: 10.1515/9781501510151-008.
S. Wechsler. What ‘you’ and ‘I’ mean
to each other: Person indexicals, self-ascription, and theory of
mind. Language. 2010. Vol. 86. № 2. P. 332–365. DOI:
10.1353/lan.0.0220.
Н. Wellman. Making minds: How
theory of mind develops. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2014. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199334919.001.0001.
H. M. Wellman, D. Cross, J. Watson.
Meta-analysis of theory-of-mind development: The truth about false
belief. Child Development. 2001. Vol. 72. № 3. P. 655–684.
DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00304.
