Acquisition of the Passive

Authors

  • Francine Hill

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/KWPL.1808.348

Keywords:

English language-- Passive voice, Language acquisition

Abstract

This single-subject pilot study, modeled after de Villiers' 1973, investigates the subject's acquisition of the passive construction (i.e., 'The boy was hit by the girl', as opposed to The girl hit the boy'). The purposes was to determine and analyze the subject's level of acquisition of the English passive. Three reversible full passive and three reversible active constructions were presented to a child with an MLU of 4.26. Results from the test show the child may have been receptively aware of the passive.

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How to Cite

Hill, . F. (1998). Acquisition of the Passive. Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, 23, 63-70. https://doi.org/10.17161/KWPL.1808.348