中文結果式句構之第一語言習得

Abstract

中文結果式句構擁有不少值得探討的特性，如句法—語義衝突(Huang, 1997)及 解釋上的歧義性，這些特性使結果式句構在形式句法有許多的研究(e.g., Huang, 1988; Zhang, 2001)，而實證研究則相對較少。本研究旨在探討中文結果式句構的第一語言習 得，以彌補此研究缺口，研究考慮到三個影響兒童理解結果式句構的因素:句構類型 (賓語控制、主語控制和使役結果式句構)、語境和有生命性。6 至 8 歲的兒童共 60 名及中文母語者 20 名參與了本研究，受試者進行了兩個真值判斷任務(有語境及無語 境)和一個圖片選擇任務，以評估其對結果式句構的理解。研究發現，賓語控制結果句構最容易，其次是主語控制，而使役結果式句構則最 具挑戰性，其次，語境有助於兒童理解每一類型的結果式句構，有生命性也在句子歧 異理解扮演重要角色。最後，研究結果顯示，受試兒童在中文結果式句構的第一語言 習得中歷經三個階段的發展過程，與皮亞杰的認知發展理論(1964)相符。6 歲在有語 境支持下，對結果式句構已達成人程度的理解，7 歲兒童則可在無語境支持下達到成 人水平，隨著年齡的增長，兒童能藉由有生命性的線索，理解結果式句構。

The Chinese resultative construction possesses several properties that merit in-depth exploration, such as the syntax-semantics mismatch (Huang, 1997) and the ambiguity in interpretation. These complexities have led to extensive research on resultative constructions in formal syntax (e.g., Huang, 1988; Zhang, 2001), while the first language acquisition of the construction remains largely unexplored. The present study addressed the research gap by investigating the first language acquisition of the Chinese resultative construction. Three factors were considered to influence interpretation: resultative type (object-control, subject- control, and causative resultatives), context, and animacy. A total of 60 children aged 6 to 8 and 20 adults were recruited. The participants were assigned two truth-value judgment tasks (with and without context) and one force-choice task to evaluate their understanding of resultatives.The results revealed a hierarchical order of object-control> subject-control > causative resultatives (from easiest to most difficult). Context was shown to facilitate children’s interpretation of all types of resultatives. Animacy was also found to play a crucial role in resolving ambiguity. A three-stage developmental progression in acquiring resultatives was identified, which aligned with Piaget’s (1964) Theory of Cognitive Development. Children achieved an adult-like understanding of resultatives with context by age 6 and without context by age 7. Their ability to use animacy cues to interpret resultatives also improved with age.