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The Development of Basic Word Order in Child Emirati Arabic

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Title: The Development of Basic Word Order in Child Emirati Arabic
Language: English
Authors: Dimitrios Ntelitheos (ORCID 0000-0001-6823-9796), Alexandra Marquis (ORCID 0000-0003-1465-4534), Nikolaos Tsigilis (ORCID 0000-0002-2388-959X)
Source: First Language. 2026 46(2):202-233.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 32
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Arabic, Word Order, Language Acquisition, Young Children, Incidence, Verbs, Grammar, Sentence Structure
Geographic Terms: United Arab Emirates
DOI: 10.1177/01427237251362540
ISSN: 0142-7237
1740-2344
Abstract: Emirati Arabic alternates between subject-verb (SV) and verb-subject (VS) basic word order, challenging acquisition theories to explain how children master both orders. We address this question by studying a 2-year corpus of 6 Emirati children (1.8-5.9) and child-directed speech, exploring the role that input frequency, verb transitivity, subject definiteness and animacy, and discourse function play in determining children's choice of word order. Children first over-produce SV orders, confirming an early subject-first bias. VS orders appear earliest with intransitive and mono-transitive verbs whose subjects are new or inferable, tying word order to information status from the outset. By 4.6, children reserve VS for the same discourse roles as adults, including narrative event lines and minimal wh-answers but underexploit it in pragmatically neutral contexts. These findings support a hybrid model: an initial structural bias guides production, statistical learning aligns global frequencies, and discourse-pragmatic mappings fine-tune usage. SV/VS development in Emirati Arabic thus bolsters interface-based theories of grammatical growth.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1499860
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: The Development of Basic Word Order in Child Emirati Arabic
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Dimitrios+Ntelitheos%22">Dimitrios Ntelitheos</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6823-9796">0000-0001-6823-9796</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Alexandra+Marquis%22">Alexandra Marquis</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1465-4534">0000-0003-1465-4534</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nikolaos+Tsigilis%22">Nikolaos Tsigilis</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2388-959X">0000-0002-2388-959X</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22First+Language%22"><i>First Language</i></searchLink>. 2026 46(2):202-233.
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  Data: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
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  Data: Y
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  Data: 32
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+Arab+Emirates%22">United Arab Emirates</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1177/01427237251362540
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  Data: Emirati Arabic alternates between subject-verb (SV) and verb-subject (VS) basic word order, challenging acquisition theories to explain how children master both orders. We address this question by studying a 2-year corpus of 6 Emirati children (1.8-5.9) and child-directed speech, exploring the role that input frequency, verb transitivity, subject definiteness and animacy, and discourse function play in determining children's choice of word order. Children first over-produce SV orders, confirming an early subject-first bias. VS orders appear earliest with intransitive and mono-transitive verbs whose subjects are new or inferable, tying word order to information status from the outset. By 4.6, children reserve VS for the same discourse roles as adults, including narrative event lines and minimal wh-answers but underexploit it in pragmatically neutral contexts. These findings support a hybrid model: an initial structural bias guides production, statistical learning aligns global frequencies, and discourse-pragmatic mappings fine-tune usage. SV/VS development in Emirati Arabic thus bolsters interface-based theories of grammatical growth.
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  Data: 2026
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        Value: 10.1177/01427237251362540
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      – SubjectFull: Word Order
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      – SubjectFull: Young Children
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      – SubjectFull: Sentence Structure
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      – SubjectFull: United Arab Emirates
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      – TitleFull: The Development of Basic Word Order in Child Emirati Arabic
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              Y: 2026
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