Abstract
This paper investigates the L2 acquisition of clausal syntax in post-puberty learners of German and Swedish regarding V2, VP headedness and verb particle constructions. The learner data are tested against L2 theories according to which lower structural projections (VP) are acquired before higher functional projections (IP, CP), VP syntax is unproblematic (invulnerable), but where grammatical operations related to the topmost level of syntactic structure (CP) are acquired late (e.g. Platzack’s (2001) vulnerable C-domain). It will be shown that such theories do not hold water: native speakers of Swedish learning German and native speakers of German learning Swedish both master V2 from early on. At the same time, these learners exhibit a nontargetlike syntax at lower structural levels: residual VO in the case of the Swedish-L1 learners of German, and persistent nontarget transitive verb particle constructions in the German-L1 learners of Swedish. I argue that these findings are best explained by assuming full transfer of L1 syntax (e.g. Schwartz & Sprouse 1996).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 31-73 |
| Journal | Language Acquisition: A Journal of Developmental Linguistics |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 |
Bibliographical note
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015.The record was previously connected to the following departments: Swedish (015011001)
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Languages and Literature