Abstrakt
Previous research has argued that learners infer word order patternswhen learning a new language based on knowledge aboutunderlying structure, rather than linear order (Culbertson &
Adger, 2014). Specifically, learners prefer typologically commonnoun phrase word order patterns that transparently reflecthow elements like nouns, adjectives, numerals, and demonstrativescombine hierarchically. We test whether this resultstill holds after removing a potentially confounding strategypresent in the original study design. We find that when learnersare taught a naturalistic “foreign” language, a clear preferencefor noun phrase word order is replicated but for a subsetof modifier types originally tested. Specifically, participantspreferred noun phrases with the order N-Adj-Dem (as in “mugred this”) over the order N-Dem-Adj (as in “mug this red”).
However, they showed no preference between orders N-Adj-
Num (as in “mugs red two”) and N-Num-Adj (as in “mugstwo red”). We interpret this sensitivity as potentially reflectingan asymmetry among modifier types in the underlying hierarchicalstructure.