In this project we examine how and how early Hebrew- and Palastinian-Arabic-speaking children, toddlers and infants understand the underlying logic of the Semitic verbal system. We ask at what age they begin to understand verbal-template distinctions such as transitivity (e.g., lehacxik to make someone laugh, vs. licxok to laugh). We also ask whether slightly older children (3- to-4-year-olds) can use their knowledge of the role of these verbal templates to infer the meaning of novel verbs.

Joint work of Dr. Naomi Havron, Dr. Rana Abu-Zhaya (Plymouth University).