Free variation learning in syntax and in phonology

Abstract

Studies on morphosyntax show that learners simplify variation through regularization. Phonological studies show that children modulate rather than regularize variability. We aim to identify whether syntactic (gender agreement) and phonological (rounding agreement) learning differ when children are exposed to artificial languages. The results from Cantonese-speaking children show that application of agreement was higher in variable learning than categorical learning, especially in the phonological condition. These findings point to a qualitative difference between learning in the two domains. Phonological learning is influenced by phonetic bias, while no such bias is observed in syntactic learning due to the absence of substantive grounding.