Subject Agreement, Object Agreement and Specificity in Swahili

Abstract

"Differences between child and adult language are usually explained in one of two ways. The first is to assume that the child’s knowledge of a particular area of language is fundamentally different from that of the adult. This position has been articulated from a variety of researchers including nativists (e.g., non-Continuity theorists) and non-nativists alike. The second way to explain child-adult differences (particularly in the acquisition of morphosyntax) is to assume that the child’s knowledge is essentially the same as that of the adult, but that the observed difference is attributable to deficiencies in other areas of language, for example, inappropriate knowledge of the discourse or pragmatic conditions in which a particular structure is required"