The acquisition of quantification across languages : some predictions

Abstract

In this paper we review factors that are expected to affect the order of acquisition of quantifiers across languages. We draw a distinction between language-wide and language-specific factors as well as factors that relate to the biological and social profile of the learner (such as gender, socio-economic status and schooling). We then propose predictions for what cross-linguistically similar patterns may arise. This exposition provides the theoretical background against which a major empirical project has been undertaken, with the goal of documenting the extent to which the acquisition of quantifiers proceeds uniformly across languages. Here we summarize the scope of the project, the specific hypotheses under test, and other factors that must be considered in analysing the outcome of the ongoing empirical work. We conclude by discussing the implications of these investigations for the interface between linguistic and non-linguistic cognition. But first we turn to cross-linguistic similarities in the meaning of quantifiers in the following section.