Production and comprehension of pronouns byGreek children with specific language impairment

摘要

This study contributes to the characterization of the deficit in specific languageimpairment (SLI) by investigating whether deficits in the production and comprehensionof pronouns in Greek children with SLI are best accounted for by domain-general ordomain-specific models of the language faculty. The Greek pronominal systemdistinguishes between acoustically salient and non-salient forms, which are bothinterpreted on semantic/thematic grounds, and non-salient forms (object clitics)interpreted on syntactic grounds either in spec–head agreement or syntacticdependencies incurring feature checking through movement/chain formation. Theresults revealed a significant effect of the syntactic configuration on the production andcomprehension of object clitics. Children with SLI were significantly impaired in theproduction and comprehension of those clitics that enter into operations necessitatedby complex syntactic dependencies involving feature checking through movement/chainformation. Thus, the data support the computational grammatical complexityhypothesis and indicate that the deficits associated with object clitics in Greek-speaking children with SLI result from domain-specific impairment with syntacticdependencies incurring feature checking at the clause level involving movement/chainformation.