Abstract
The authors of linguistic texts seem unwilling to offer any precise definition of the concept of a verb. Despite this, they would almost certainly all agree that verbs can be notionally characterized as words referring to actions, states, processes, or relations. Typical examples include play, eat, hold, fix, sit, stand, fall, and move—all of which have been reported in the speech of two-year-old children (see Bloom & Lahey, 1978, p. 153)—and explore, arrive, expand, and exceed— none of which have been reported in the speech of very young children. Given this notional characterization of verbs, we can then ask various types of question concerning the development of verb meaning. These include the following questions about reference, grammatical role structure, and temporal expression:
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Edwards, D., Goodwin, R. (1986). Action Words and Pragmatic Function in Early Language. In: Kuczaj, S.A., Barrett, M.D. (eds) The Development of Word Meaning. Springer Series in Cognitive Development. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4844-6_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4844-6_10
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