This section differs in structure from the analysis of session 1; the presentation of the new forms of modification begins with the analysis of the noun phrase, then move to the predicate and its morphology, and finishes with sentence modifications.
4.1_____Noun phrases 4.1.1 N no N-structures
In session 1, M had acquired the skills to produce extended noun phrases of the structure N p N p/desu, but her grammar did not include a rule governing the order of both nouns. From session 2 on, M produces N no N-structures with a consistent word order (see table 4-30 below). That is some indication that she has acquired a rule governing the branching direction, and can apply it to her language production. In part 1 it was argued that adj N-structures cannot be acquired as long as this knowledge is not present, and it seems that from now on M should be able to acquire the category "adjective".
Table 4-30: N no N-structures in M's Sss. 1-4 Sss. 1 Sss. 2 Sss. 3 Sss. 4 N1 no N 2 3 13 7 6 N2 no N1 3 3 / / N no N total 6 16 7 6 4.1.2 Adjectives
M creates a new category that includes quantifiers and adjectives and is structurally a subset of nouns, differing from them in only one feature. Adjectives go through an interim phase before det N-structures are produced targetlike: they are a subset of nouns, because they can occur in the same position into which nouns can be inserted, i.e. the position of the copula complement. Adjectives within the noun phrase precede their head noun, but differently to nouns. While a noun in this position is linked to the following noun by the particle 'no1, the adjective precedes the head directly. The adjective is a dependent part of a noun phrase and extends it.
19. Nihonj in no tomodachi
Japan -person (gen-p) friend the Japanese friend
20. Wakai tomodachi
young friend the young friend
The establishment of the new category "adjective", i.e. the step from "nominal" to "adjectival" behaviour of lexical items with adjectival meaning (which were used before as copula complements only) creates several problems for a learner. Acquiring the ability to produce an adj N-structure has a number of prerequisites: first, the learner must be able to produce complex noun phrases with more than one element. Second, s/he must have acquired a rule governing the branching direction as a general
characteristic of the grammar. Third, s/he must create a category which is neither head of phrase nor has features mutually exclusive with those of the other existing categories, as was the case for nouns and verbs. The structure adj no N is an interim step in this development and a typical learner error:
(12.) Em (laughs) (...) oh cm cm hito hm hithito ni suwatte person (loop ) sitting cm aoi no no dorcsu eh aoi doresu em ni
blue (gen-p) dress (i.o.-p) kirimasuka?
wear(-quest-p)
Does the person that is sitting wear a blue dress?
In 'aoi no doresu' - 'a blue dress', M still heats the adjective as a noun, linking it to its head with the particle 'no'. The following table shows adjective-constructions in M's data:
Table 4-31: adj-N-structures in M's Sss. 1-4
Sss. 1 Sss. 2 Sss. 3 Sss. 4
adj no N 1 / / /
adj N 1 (no pred) 11 (3 no pred) 3 1+1 demonstrativ
At the time of session 2, M has acquired the specific feature of adjectives "preceding head directly" and the rule of Japanese being leftbranching. In sessions 3 and 4, she produces only very few adj N-structures, so that her communicative versatility decreases in this respect. This phenomenon of backsliding in both structural and communicative terms is noticeable with other features as well.
The first adjective inflection occurs in M's data in session 2. By the end of the second semester, she has been taught the whole inflection paradigm (see ch. 2.1.6). In TJ, adjectives can be inflected for seriality (non-finiteness), adverbiality, and for tense, aspect and negation, and so assume "verbal" features.
Table 4-32: Adjective inflection in M's Sss. 1-4
Sss. 1 Sss. 2 Sss. 3 Sss. 4 adj-neg / / / / adj-past / 1 / / adj-neg past / / / / adj-ku V / / / / adj V / 2 / / adj-kute / 1 / / adj-soo / 1 / / adj+deshita / 1 5 2 total / 6 5 3
Again, we find a backsliding in the complexity of M's structures. M appears to be at the point of acquiring adjective inflection in session 2, but it does not occur again in sessions 3 and 4. On the contrary, M produces 'adj deshita'-sentences, i.e. uninflected adjectives followed by the past tense form of the copula. This is incorrect in TJ, where the tense should be marked on the - thereby finite - adjective10.
M has acquired the category "adjective", the first class of dependent elements, with the feature "preceding head directly" by the time of session 2, but shows no consistent production of any other feature that goes with adjectives in TJ.
4.1.3 Quantifiers
Quantifiers show a strong semantic and syntactic similarity to adjectives. Both characterise nouns and precede them directly in M's interlanguage. The morphological difference that they show in TJ (see ch. 2.1.7), i.e. the inflection of adjectives, does not play any role in M's interlanguage grammar, as she does not acquire it. The only difference between adjectives and quantifiers in M's interlanguage grammar is that quantifiers also mark the intensity of an adjective.
Table 4-33: Quantifiers in M's Sss. 1-4
Sss. 1 Sss. 2 Sss. 3 Sss. 4
quant N / 18 4 1
quant cop / / / /
quant adj / / 3 1
quant adj cop / 4 / /
total / 22 7 2
Table 4-33 above shows that M quantifies nouns as well as (the intensity of) adjectives, whereby the quantification of nouns might have been the first step, because most quantifiers precede nouns and not adjectives in session 2.
M quantifies nouns or adjectives, but she quantifies a noun modifying adjective: quant adj N, only once. It seems that the length of a phrase is proportional to the difficulty of its being produced. The analysis of other learners' interlanguages will show that learners never insert quantifiers in long noun phrases in the first phase of their acquisition, but build up their different environments step by step, starting with a simple det N-phrase that is not embedded in any sentence structure.
Quantifiers are the first open class of elements that occur in dependent positions only. They never occur in the position of a copula complement, although this is possible for some quantifiers in TJ.
10 However, the fact that Japanese first language learners make the same error (see ch. 2.2) shows that it