Asymmetric contribution of case marking and verb to the agent-first strategy: Comprehension of canonical active transitives for Korean-speaking children

摘要

This study investigated 3-4-year-olds' comprehension of a canonical active transitive (agent-NOM + theme-ACC + verb) by systematically obscuring cues from case marking and a verb. Results showed that the agent-first strategy was not manifested strongly when only two nouns were present, that an asymmetry was found involving the contribution of case marking and a verb to enhancing agent-first interpretation, and that the NOM affected the reliance on the agent-first interpretation slightly more than the ACC. Implications on the findings are discussed with respect to input properties in Korean.