Abstract
Phonological and grammatical analyses of child language have concentrated on finding a system in the child's production or in its relationship to the adult target. This paper suggests that a stage of item-learning applies at various levels of language (phonology, intonation, morphology and syntax, and semantics) before a stage of system-learning. System-learning may involve segmentation and subsequent substitution; the separation of two simultaneously operating systems; or the pairing of a set of referents with one form.
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Cruttenden, A. Item-learning and system-learning. J Psycholinguist Res 10, 79–88 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067363
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067363