Suvremena lingvistika, Vol. 47 No. 91, 2021.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.22210/suvlin.2021.091.03
Frequency of form and functions of the connective and in the narratives of preschool and early school–age children
Sara Košutar
orcid.org/0000-0002-8882-9600
; Edukacijsko–rehabilitacijski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Gordana Hržica
orcid.org/0000-0001-6067-9148
; Edukacijsko–rehabilitacijski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Sažetak
And is the fi rst and most frequent connective in the narrative development, as well as in the acquisition
of complex syntax. Previous research within the form–function approach confirms that the connective
and encodes diff erent meanings in children’s discourse and thus serves as a major mechanism for the
acquisition of new forms and meanings. In early narrative development, and is also used in the descriptive,
picture–to–picture mode, the use of which is abandoned as children grow older. The present study aims
to investigate differences in the frequency of form and functions of and in the narratives of preschool
and early school–age children. Narrative samples of 120 children (30 of 4–, 6–, 8– and 10–years olds)
were retrieved from the Croatian narrative corpus Frog, where are you?. Connectives from the corpus were
classifi ed according to the semantic relations they express (succession, simultaneity, cause, opposition) and
their descriptive function. Differences were found in the proportions of the connective and in relation to the
total number of communication units. The proportions of the connective and decrease with age such that
they form an inverted U–curve. The semantic and descriptive functions of and also differ. Th e proportions
of the connective and in sequential and causal meanings change with age in a way that mirrors the inverted
U–curve, whereas the proportion of and in simultaneity shows stagnation, followed by a marked increase
after the age of eight. Only early preschool children use the connective and to produce descriptions based on
single pictures. Our results are consistent with previous studies that showed that early language devices for
establishing relations in the discourse enable the acquisition of new forms and functions.
Ključne riječi
children’s discourse; language acquisition; connective and; semantic relations; Croatian
Hrčak ID:
261014
URI
Datum izdavanja:
27.7.2021.
Posjeta: 1.263 *