英汉双语学前儿童汉语多义动词“打”的应用研究 = An investigation on the polysemous verb “Da” application by Chinese-English bilingual preschool children

• Main Author: 石慧儿 Sak, Hui Er
• Other Authors: Helena Gao Hong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: Chinese
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/66095
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

多义词是儿童语言习得的难点之一。由于多义词的意义繁多，语言习得者需要足够的语言经验才能了解其中的规律和限制。现代汉语动词“打”是个典型的多义词，它在《现代汉语词典》里有高达24个义项。根据Gao (2001), “打”的语义表征高达152个，涉及的语义场达27个。本文的理论基础和语义场分类就是基于Gao (2001) 的研究。本研究通过家长报告书和访谈式的语言测试，调查了30名新加坡英汉双语儿童使用多义词“打”的情况。家长报告书收集了儿童的家庭和语言背景资料。语言测试则采用视觉诱导物让儿童对动作进行描述。研究结果显示属于“社会交际”、“体罚”、“注射”和“自然现象”语义场的“打”语义表征的使用率最高，属于“系上”、“生理反应”、“所有”语义场的“打”语义表征的使用率最低。数据统计分析结果显示儿童的强势语言和表示“游戏”、“注射”和“社会交际”的“打”语义表征的使用率有相关性。最后，本研究也发现“打” 与其近义词的关系、儿童对动作的具体认识以及双语跨语言影响都会在不同程度上影响儿童习得“打”的个别语义表征。Previous studies show that polysemous words are difficult in language learning. Language users require substantial amount of language experience before they fully grasp the meanings of the complex polysemy. Chinese physical action verb “da” is a polysemous verb. “Xian Dai Han Yu Ci Dian”, Mainland China’s most prominent dictionary, includes 24 meanings under “da”. Its complex web of meaning representations makes it difficult for language users to acquire all the meanings. Gao (2001) analysed the “da” polysemy and found that there are 152 meaning representations. She then grouped these meaning representations into 27 semantic fields on the basis of prototypicality of “da”. This study follows Gao’s (2001) framework on the categorisation of “da” meaning representations and seeks to investigate the application of “da” by 30 Chinese-English bilingual pre-schoolers in Singapore. The methodology involves the use of a parent report form and an interview-based language test. The parent report form is used to collect demographic and language information. During the experiment, visual stimuli depicting “da” actions were used to elicit description from the participants. Results of the study find that “da” meaning representations in semantic categories such as “social interaction”, “physical punishment”, “insertion” and “natural phenomenon” are most commonly used by the children. Besides, “da” meaning representations in semantic categories such as “fastening”, “physiological reaction” and “possession” are least used by the children. A statistical analysis was also done to investigate the relationship between children’s answers and their language backgrounds. Results show that children’s usage of “da” meaning representations in semantic categories like “game”, “insertion” and “social interaction” are correlated to their dominant language. Lastly, results also point to other factors that seem to affect the acquisition of “da” polysemy by the children. These factors include the relationship between “da” and its near synonyms, children’s understanding of actions and bilingual cross-language effects.