Learning indigenous languages : child language acquisition in Mesoamerica / edited by Barbara Pfeiler.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This book includes six studies on the acquisition of single Mesoamerican indigenous languages, (Huichol, Zapotec, and the Mayan languages Ch'ol, Tzeltal, K'iche', and Yukatek); and a crosslinguistic study of five Mayan languages (K'anjob'al, K'iche', Tzeltal, Tzotzil, and Yukatek). Three topics are theoretically and methodologically discussed and empirically demonstrated: with respect to ergativity, the ergative-absolutive cross-referencing pattern on the morphological level, noun-verb distinction and the acquisition of body-part locatives in the early lexicon, and the role of semantic propert.

Introduction: The view from Mesoamerica / Barbara Pfeiler -- Crosslinguistic study -- Roots or Edges? Explaining variation in children's early verb forms across five Mayan languages / Clifton Pye, Barbara Pfeiler, Lourdes de Leon, Penelope Brown and Pedro Mateo -- Acquisition of ergative Mayan languages -- Explaining Ergativity / Clifton Pye -- Early acquisition of the Split Intransitive System in Yukatek / Carlos Carrillo Carreon -- Acquisition of the early lexicon -- A preliminary view at Ch'ol (Mayan) early lexicon: The role of language and cultural context / Lourdes de Leon -- Acquisition of referential and relational words in Huichol: from 16 to 24 months of age / Paula Gomez Lopez -- Semantic development.

eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - Worldwide