Acquisition of Comparison Constructions

Abstract

This article presents a study on the time course of the acquisition of comparison constructions. The order in which comparison constructions (comparatives, measure phrases, superlatives, degree questions, etc.) show up in English- and German-learning children’s spontaneous speech is quite fixed. It is shown to be insufficiently determined by factors like frequency. Instead, a model of parametric variation in the grammar of comparison is shown to predict the order we observe.