Syntactic Principles and Language Acquisition Stages

Core Principles of Syntax

• Projection: Lexical items are projected to meet verb subcategorization frames. The agent and subject are arguments required by the verb (subject/object).
• Theme Criterion: Argument positions depend on the lexical-semantic structure of verbs and must be satisfied to form a well-formed sentence.
• X-Bar Theory: All lexical items follow a uniform phrase structure: Specifier + Core + Complement.
• Unit Structure: Syntax operates with constituents, not individual words. Language acquisition follows a structural and non-linear hypothesis.
• Predication: Every predicate must have a subject (e.g., pro-drop languages like Spanish vs. non-pro-drop languages like English).
• Case Theory: Legitimizes the presence of arguments; every argument must be assigned a case (via declensions or prepositions) to function.
• Binding Theory: Regulates the conditions under which variables are referenced by a linguistic context.
• Principle of Empty Categories: Governs the trace left by movement (Move Alpha).
• Minimum Effort: Language favors economy; among possible syntactic derivations, the one involving the least movement is chosen (e.g., active vs. passive voice).

Stages in Language Acquisition (Brown, 1973)

• Pre-grammatical Stage: Holophrastic stage (14 to 18 or 20 months).
• Grammatical Stage:
  • Lexical stage: Two-word combinations and telegraphic speech.
  • Acquisition of lexical categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives).
• Functional Stage:
  • Acquisition of functional categories (determiners, verbal/nominal inflection, conjunctions, prepositions).
  • Development of inflectional and derivational morphology.
  • Acquisition of subordination structures.

Historical Sound Changes (Golden Age: XVI–XVII)

The current linguistic situation is the result of sound changes occurring during the Golden Age. At this time, there were three pairs of sibilants:

• [s] / [z]: Represented by s and ss (between vowels).
• [ts] / [tz]: Represented by ç (e.g., 'reaches') and z (e.g., 'dizia').
• [ʃ] / [ʒ]: Represented by x (e.g., 'oxo') and j (e.g., 'jack').

Sound: 'Fixed'