Stages in the Acquisition of Yoruba Syntax
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Date
2007
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JOLAN, Linguistics Association of Nigeria
Abstract
This pape examines the stages in the syntactic development of a Yoruba child. The major objective is to see how and when they set three language parameters. The data used is collected from three children, Damilare, Temiloluwa and Tola between ages 09 and 36 months. We start by examining the normal course of human language development. We look into the stages of the acquisition of syntax from the babbling stage to the multi-word stage. It is discovered that in the course of acquiring syntax, children move from the simple to the complex structures. They are able to set the parameters which make language acquisition for them despite its complexity.
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Keywords
Yoruba, Language Acquisition, Syntax