German Children’s Use of Word Order and Case Marking to Interpret Simple and Complex Sentences: Testing Differences Between Constructions and Lexical Items

Figures & data

Table 1. Use of demonstrative pronouns in German (Leo corpus).

	Input	Child
die-SG SUBJECT	815	2329
die-SG OBJECT	413	691
das-SG SUBJECT	5803	6268
das-SG OBJECT	2275	2051

Table 2. Conditions and example sentences for simple transitives and transitive RCs with no case marking on lexical NPs or demonstrative pronouns.

trans NN	Das Pferd schubst jetzt die Kuh. ‘the-NOM/ACC horse pushes now the-NOM/ACC cow’
rel NN	Das Pferd, das die Kuh schubst. ‘the-NOM/ACC horse who-NOM/ACC the-NOMACC cow pushes’
trans NPro	Das Pferd schubst die jetzt mal. ‘the-NOM/ACC horse pushes she/her now’
rel NPro	Das Pferd, das die jetzt schubst. ‘the-NOM/ACC horse who-NOM/ACC she/her now pushes’

Figure 1. Subject-first interpretations of simple transitives (trans) and transitive RCs (rel) with no case marking on lexical NPs (NN) or demonstrative pronouns (NPro) (Experiment 1).

Table 3. GLMM main effects Experiment 1. Subject-first interpretations of simple transitives and transitive RCs with no case marking on lexical NPs or demonstrative pronouns.⁵

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	0.124	0.222	0.557	0.577
AGE (6 vs. 3)	2.470	0.341	7.238	<0.0001
CONSTRUCTION TYPE (trans vs. rel)	0.502	0.181	2.776	0.006

Table 4. GLMM main effects 3-year-olds Experiment 1. Subject-first interpretations of simple transitives and transitive RCs with no case marking on lexical NPs or demonstrative pronouns.⁶

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	−0.015	0.186	−0.081	0.935
CONSTRUCTION TYPE (trans vs. rel)	0.606	0.199	3.048	0.0023

Table 5. Conditions and example sentences for simple transitives and transitive relative clauses with case marking on lexical NPs and demonstrative pronouns.

trans SO	Der Hase schubst jetzt den Vogel. ‘the-NOM rabbit pushes now the-ACC bird’
rel SO	Der Hase, der den Vogel schubst. ‘the-NOM rabbit who-NOM the-ACC bird pushes’
trans SPro	Der Hase schubst den jetzt mal. ‘the-NOM rabbit pushes him now’
rel SPro	Der Hase, der den jetzt schubst. ‘the-NOM rabbit who-NOM him now pushes’
trans OS	Den Vogel schubst jetzt der Hase. ‘the-ACC bird pushes now the-NOM rabbit’
rel OS	Der Vogel, den der Hase schubst. ‘the-NOM bird who-ACC the-NOM rabbit pushes’
trans OPro	Den Vogel schubst der jetzt mal. ‘the-ACC bird pushes he now’
rel OPro	Der Vogel, den der jetzt schubst. ‘the-NOM bird who-ACC he now pushes’

Figure 2. Correct interpretations of simple transitives (trans) and transitive relative clauses (rel) with case marking on lexical NPs (SO, OS) and demonstrative pronouns (SPro, OPro) (Experiment 2).

Table 6. GLMM main effects and 2-way interactions Experiment 2. Correct interpretation of simple transitives and transitive relative clauses with case marking on lexical NPs and demonstrative pronouns.

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	−0.077	0.215	−0.357	0.721
ORDER (SO vs. OS)	0.795	0.175	4.54	<0.0001
AGE (6 vs. 3)	−0.583	0.334	−1.743	0.081
CONSTRUCTION TYPE (trans vs. rel)	0.156	0.174	0.894	0.371
NP (pro vs. N)	−0.156	0.174	−0.894	0.371
ORDER:AGE	4.652	0.668	6.959	<0.0001
AGE:CONSTRUCTION TYPE	1.792	0.327	5.475	<0.0001
AGE:NP	−0.803	0.323	−2.486	0.0129

Table 7. GLMM main effects and 2-way interactions 6-year-olds Experiment 2. Correct interpretation of simple transitives and transitive relative clauses with case marking on lexical NPs and demonstrative pronouns.⁷

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	−0.383	0.345	−1.109	0.268
ORDER (SO vs. OS)	6.196	0.722	8.582	<0.0001
CONSTRCUCTION TYPE (trans vs. rel)	1.363	0.383	3.557	0.0004
NP (pro vs. N)	−1.958	0.450	−4.350	<0.0001
CONSTRUCTION TYPE:NP	1.724	0.593	2.904	0.004

Table 8. GLMM main effects and 2-way interactions 6-year-olds Experiment 2. Correct interpretation of simple transitives and transitive relative clauses with case marking on lexical NPs and demonstrative pronouns. Object-first sentences only.⁸

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	−0.376	0.374	−1.005	0.315
CONSTRUCTION TYPE (trans vs. rel)	1.381	0.396	3.489	0.0005
NP (pro vs. N)	−2.123	0.480	−4.424	<0.0001
CONSTRUCTION TYPE:NP	1.873	0.624	3.001	0.003

Table 9 GLMM main effects 3-year-olds Experiment 2. Correct interpretation of simple transitives and transitive relative clauses with case marking on lexical NPs and demonstrative pronouns.⁹

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	−0.086	0.137	−0.624	0.532
ORDER (SO vs. OS)	0.766	0.173	4.441	<0.0001

Table 10. Conditions and example sentences for transitive RCs with case on lexical NPs and personal pronouns.

con SO	Wo ist der Hase, der den Vogel schubst? ‘where is the-NOM rabbit who-NOM the-ACC bird pushes’
incon SO	Zeig mal den Hasen, der den Vogel schubst! ‘show (me) the-ACC rabbit who-NOM the-ACC bird pushes’
con SPro	Wo ist der Hase, der mich schubst? ‘where is the-NOM rabbit who-NOM me-ACC pushes’
incon SPro	Zeig mal den Hasen, der mich schubst! ‘show (me) the-ACC rabbit who-NOM me-ACC pushes’
con OS	Zeig mal den Vogel, den der Hase schubst! ‘show (me) the-ACC bird who-ACC the-NOM rabbit pushes’
incon OS	Wo ist der Vogel, den der Hase schubst? ‘where is the-NOM bird who-ACC the-NOM rabbit pushes’
con OPro	Zeig mal den Vogel, den ich schubse! ‘show (me) the-ACC bird who-ACC I-NOM push’
incon OPro	Wo ist der Vogel, den ich schubse? ‘where is the-NOM bird who-ACC I-NOM push’

Figure 3. Correct interpretations of transitive relative clauses with case marking on lexical NPs (SO, OS) and personal pronouns (SPro, OPro), consistent or inconsistent with the case marking in the clause (con vs. incon) (Experiment 3)

Table 11. GLMM main effects and 2-way interactions Experiment 3. Correct interpretations of transitive RCs with case on lexical NPs and personal pronouns.¹⁰

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	−0.712	0.266	−2.673	0.007
ORDER (SO vs. OS)	2.288	0.290	7.900	<0.0001
NP (pro vs. N)	0.949	0.262	3.627	0.0003
AGE (6 vs. 3)	0.701	0.360	1.950	0.051
ORDER:NP	−1.209	0.383	−3.158	0.002
ORDER:AGE	1.832	0.567	3.233	0.001
NP:AGE	1.484	0.401	3.699	0.0002

Table 12. GLMM main effects 4-year-olds Experiment 3. Correct interpretations of transitive RCs with case on lexical NPs and personal pronouns.¹¹

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	−0.434	0.224	−1.940	0.052
ORDER (SO vs. OS)	1.652	0.202	8.163	<0.0001
NP (pro vs. N)	0.418	0.207	2.018	0.044

Table 13. GLMM main effects 4-year-olds Experiment 3. Correct interpretations of transitive RCs with case on lexical NPs and personal pronouns. Object-first sentences only.¹²

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	−0.531	0.192	−2.769	0.006
NP (pro vs. N)	−0.647	0.242	2.667	0.007

Table 14. GLMM main effects 6-year-olds Experiment 3. Correct interpretations of transitive RCs with case on lexical NPs and personal pronouns.¹³

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	0.023	0.313	0.073	0.942
ORDER (SO vs. OS)	4.080	0.543	7.519	<0.0001
NP (pro vs. N)	2.454	0.343	7.159	<0.0001

Table 15. GLMM main effects 6-year-olds Experiment 3. Correct interpretations of transitive RCs with case on lexical NPs and personal pronouns. Object-first sentences only.¹⁴

Parameter	Estimate	Std. Error	z-statistic	p-value
Intercept	−0.201	0.408	−0.492	0.623
NP (pro vs. N)	3.497	0.461	7.478	<0.0001