A Longitudinal Study of Topic Marker ‘n(un)’ and Predicates in Early Subject Acquisition in Korean

Lee, Hee Ran; Haider, Hubert

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2004;9(3): 36-50.

Hee Ran Lee^` , and Hubert Haider^`

이희란(Hee Ran Lee)| Hubert Haider

ABSTRACT

The present study was designed to investigate the acquisition of Korean topic marker ‘n(un)’ and predicates according to the features of overt and null subjects/topics using the longitudinal data from two Korean young children who were two years of age. Data were collected at the homes of the children with their mother present every two weeks during the time when the children were aged from 2;0-2;10. The results suggest that the Korean children produce the predicates as a copular, as a intransitive verb, and as a transitive verb in the early acquisition stage(from the age of 2;0). The major findings of this study indicate that transitive verbs and copulars were produced more frequently than intransitive ones. It is proposed that the topic marker ‘n(un)’ was produced more frequently with copulars or intransitive verbs than with transitive ones to the age of 2;6. It is also proposed that the topicalization with the topic marker ‘n(un)’ is the potential indicator for the production of subject arguments during early language acquisition in Korean.