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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Development of Spatial Location in Finnish

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Abstract The purpose of this research was to study the shift from mono- to bi-referential spatial location in the language of Finnish children. Monoreferential location is based on the intrinsic properties of a referent object and the proximity relationship, and bireferential location requires coordinated spatial relationships involving referent objects and a projective relationship. Locative expressions which are monoreferential include: in/on/under and intrinsic front/back, and those which are bireferential include deictic front/back and between. A pictorial representation of locative relationships with a sentence-picture matching task was used to present the mono- vs bi-referential contrast, with the latter being either static or dynamic (i.e. concerning motion to goal). At 2;6, Finnish children could solve monoreferential location problems but not bireferential ones, and by 4;6, they solved both. This linguistic outcome was related to phases in conceptual development. Le but de cette recherche etait d...