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The Acquisition of the Semantics of Japanese Numeral Classifiers: The Methodological Value of Nonsense

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Title: The Acquisition of the Semantics of Japanese Numeral Classifiers: The Methodological Value of Nonsense
Language: English
Authors: Maki Kubota (ORCID 0000-0003-0580-1045), Yuko Matsuoka, Jason Rothman
Source: Journal of Child Language. 2025 52(2):218-243.
Availability: Cambridge University Press. 100 Brook Hill Drive, West Nyack, NY 10994. Tel: 800-872-7423; Tel: 845-353-7500; Fax: 845-353-4141; e-mail: subscriptions_newyork@cambridge.org; Web site: https://www.cambridge.org/core/what-we-publish/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 26
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Japanese, Children, Language Acquisition, Taxonomy, Semantics, Computation, Age Differences, Monolingualism, Familiarity, Comprehension
Geographic Terms: Japan
DOI: 10.1017/S0305000923000661
ISSN: 0305-0009
1469-7602
Abstract: This study examined the acquisition of numeral classifiers in 120 monolingual Japanese children. Previous research has argued that the complex semantic system underlying classifiers is late acquired. Thus, we set out to determine the age at which Japanese children are able to extend the semantic properties of classifiers to novel items/situations. Participants completed a comprehension task with a mouse-tracking extension and a production task with nonce and familiar items. While the comprehension results showed ceiling effects on familiar and nonce items, age significantly modulated a difference in accuracy between familiar and nonce items in the production task. The findings suggest that the acquisition of the underlying semantic system is acquired much earlier than previously argued. Previously attested issues with Japanese classifier production in young(er) children are more likely to reflect accessing difficulties than indexing the underlying grammatical competence of the classifier system.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1485939
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: The Acquisition of the Semantics of Japanese Numeral Classifiers: The Methodological Value of Nonsense
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Maki+Kubota%22">Maki Kubota</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0580-1045">0000-0003-0580-1045</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Yuko+Matsuoka%22">Yuko Matsuoka</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jason+Rothman%22">Jason Rothman</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Child+Language%22"><i>Journal of Child Language</i></searchLink>. 2025 52(2):218-243.
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  Data: Cambridge University Press. 100 Brook Hill Drive, West Nyack, NY 10994. Tel: 800-872-7423; Tel: 845-353-7500; Fax: 845-353-4141; e-mail: subscriptions_newyork@cambridge.org; Web site: https://www.cambridge.org/core/what-we-publish/journals
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  Data: This study examined the acquisition of numeral classifiers in 120 monolingual Japanese children. Previous research has argued that the complex semantic system underlying classifiers is late acquired. Thus, we set out to determine the age at which Japanese children are able to extend the semantic properties of classifiers to novel items/situations. Participants completed a comprehension task with a mouse-tracking extension and a production task with nonce and familiar items. While the comprehension results showed ceiling effects on familiar and nonce items, age significantly modulated a difference in accuracy between familiar and nonce items in the production task. The findings suggest that the acquisition of the underlying semantic system is acquired much earlier than previously argued. Previously attested issues with Japanese classifier production in young(er) children are more likely to reflect accessing difficulties than indexing the underlying grammatical competence of the classifier system.
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        Value: 10.1017/S0305000923000661
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      – SubjectFull: Age Differences
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      – SubjectFull: Monolingualism
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      – TitleFull: The Acquisition of the Semantics of Japanese Numeral Classifiers: The Methodological Value of Nonsense
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