根据传统的语言学理论,复杂意义的建构牢固地依赖于句法结构建构操作。最近,然而,已经提出了新的模型,其中语义被视为部分独立于语法。在本文中,我们讨论了基于语法和自治语义模型的一些发展含义。我们回顾了婴儿和幼儿语义处理的事件相关脑电位(ERP)研究,专注于报告使用视觉或听觉刺激和试验的不同时间结构的N400振幅调制的实验。我们的评论表明,到6个月大的时候,婴儿可以从时间上重叠的刺激中关联或整合语义信息。随着时间的推移关联或整合语义信息的能力,在模式内和跨模式,出现了9个月。在序列和句子中关联或整合口语信息的能力在18个月前出现。我们还回顾了行为和ERP研究,这些研究表明,语法和句法处理技能只会在以后发展,18至32个月。这些结果为语法全面发展之前某些语义过程的可用性提供了初步证据:非语法意义构建操作可用于婴儿,尽管方式有限,在语法的抽象机制到位之前的几个月。我们根据对早期语言习得和人脑发育的研究来讨论这一假设。
According to traditional linguistic theories, the construction of complex meanings relies firmly on syntactic structure-building operations. Recently, however, new models have been proposed in which semantics is viewed as being partly autonomous from syntax. In this paper, we discuss some of the developmental implications of syntax-based and autonomous models of semantics. We
review event-related brain potential (ERP) studies on semantic processing in infants and toddlers, focusing on experiments reporting modulations of N400 amplitudes using visual or auditory stimuli and different temporal structures of trials. Our
review suggests that infants can relate or integrate semantic information from temporally overlapping stimuli across modalities by 6 months of age. The ability to relate or integrate semantic information over time, within and across modalities, emerges by 9 months. The capacity to relate or integrate information from spoken words in sequences and sentences appears by 18 months. We also
review behavioral and ERP studies showing that grammatical and syntactic processing skills develop only later, between 18 and 32 months. These results provide preliminary evidence for the availability of some semantic processes prior to the full developmental emergence of syntax: non-syntactic meaning-building operations are available to infants, albeit in restricted ways, months before the abstract machinery of grammar is in place. We discuss this hypothesis in light of research on early language acquisition and human brain development.