Cultural influences on the developing semantic lexicon

Karla McGREGOR; Natalie Munro; Su Mei Chen; Elise Baker; Jacob Oleson

doi:10.1017/S0305000918000211

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Cultural influences on the developing semantic lexicon

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Cultural influences on the developing semantic lexicon

Karla McGREGOR, Natalie Munro, Su Mei Chen, Elise Baker and Jacob Oleson

Journal of child language, Vol.45(6), pp.1309-1336

11/2018

DOI: 10.1017/S0305000918000211

PMID: 29961430

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Abstract

To determine whether the developing semantic lexicon varies with culture, we examined the animal and food naming of children from three communities distinguished by language, cultural heritage, and population density. The children were five- and seven-year-olds from Australia (n = 197), Taiwan (n = 456), and the US (n = 172). Naming patterns revealed hierarchical and flexible organization of the semantic lexicon. The content of the lexicon, particularly food names, varied with cultural heritage. In all three communities, wild mammals were predominant during animal naming, a likely influence of children's media. The influence of the Chinese zodiac was evident in the clustering of animal names in the Taiwanese sample. There was no apparent influence of population density and little influence of language, except that the Taiwanese children more frequently named foods at the superordinate level, a possible influence of the structure of Mandarin. Children develop their lexicons in response to culture as experienced first-hand or through media.

Vocabulary

United States

Humans

Language Development

Child, Preschool

Male

Language

Semantics

Taiwan

Female

Australia

Child

Culture

Details

Title: Subtitle: Cultural influences on the developing semantic lexicon
Creators: Karla McGREGOR - Faculty of Health Sciences,The University of Sydney,Australia
Natalie Munro - Faculty of Health Sciences,The University of Sydney,Australia
Su Mei Chen - The University of Iowa,IA,USA
Elise Baker - Faculty of Health Sciences,The University of Sydney,Australia
Jacob Oleson - The University of Iowa,IA,USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of child language, Vol.45(6), pp.1309-1336
Publisher: England
DOI: 10.1017/S0305000918000211
PMID: 29961430
ISSN: 0305-0009
eISSN: 1469-7602
Language: English
Date published: 11/2018
Academic Unit: Communication Sciences and Disorders; Biostatistics
Record Identifier: 9983997453102771

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