Marcação de número e genericidade: interpretação genérica na aquisição do PB

Abstract

The acquisition of bare nouns/DPs contrasts in BP is investigated. Recent studies have shown a preference for children’s interpreting plural nominals as generic in English, Spanish or Catalan. BP allows singular bare nouns with generic interpretation. Moreover, full DPs are ambiguous between a kind and an object interpretation. Experimental evidence is provided demonstrating that both bareness and plurality coparticipate in the establishment of the generic/non-generic distinction, and that the specificity of bare nouns in BP regarding to generic interpretation is already perceived by the age of 5. The role of the availability of functional projections in relation to nominals is also discussed.