初期文法模得期の多語発話の発達過程を調べるために,次の観点から一名の幼児の発話資料を分析した。(1)この期の言語発達の概要を知るために,発話資料から抽出した多語発話をその構成語数,基本構造と述語の種類,動詞節と準動詞節の構成語数と項数によって分類した。(2)動詞節と準動詞節の発達の過程を調べるために,その際に必要とされる分析枠組みを提出し,それに従って統語=意味論的構造の発達の過程を分析した。(3)統語=意味論的構造の発生過程の機序を知るために各動詞につく非述語成分の格の種類を分析した。 分析を通じて得られた結果は次の通りであった。 1.累積総数997の異なり多語発話が得られた。年齢発達に連れて多語発話の種類とその構成語数が増加している。2.多語発話の中では動詞節が最も多く,多語発話のほぼ半分を占めている。準動詞節は一時的に増加するが,その後は減少の傾向にある。名詞述語節が著しく多出する時期があり,この時期が物の名前を急速に獲得する時期であることを示唆している。 3.この時期の三語動詞節は,[_<CL>[_<NP>DN]_<NP>V]_<CL>の句構造よりも[_<CL>NNV]_<CL>の句構造の方が優勢であった。 4.動詞節はその統語=意味論的構造の違いによってa.早期から出現し出現度数の多いもの,b.これより出現の遅いもの,C.早期から出現するがその出現度数の少ないもの,d.この期には全く出現しないものがあった。この期の最も生産的な発話の構造は行為者-述語,対象-述語であった。 5.状況語に属する格では空間を示す格が時間を示す格よりも早期に出現し,しかもその頻度よりも多い。また空間場所を規定する語では方向性の意味素性をもつ格はそれをもたない格よりも,また方向性をもつ格では目標の意味素性をもつ格が源泉の意味素性をもつ格よりも出現度数が多い。 6.他動詞には一般に対象語が主語よりも早期に結びつき,移動自動詞には行先格がかなり早期からつく。 7.動詞につく格の種類数は,早くから出現する構造では概ね1種類であり,その後それらの格が2個結びついたり,新たな種類の格が結びついて項数の多い発語へと発展する。 しかし,遅く出現する構造では動詞に結びつく格の種類は初出のときから複数であったり,異なる種類の格を2個もつ構造つまり二項動詞節として出現する。

In this paper, the non-imitated utterances of more than two words of a Japanes child, a girl named Fumi, were analysed to clarify the process of development of syntactico-semantic structures expressed in Japanese-speaking children's multiword utterances. The child's speech was taperecorded for 4 consecutive days, for 2 hours a day in ordinary everyday situations in her home. The recorded non-linguistic context was used in the interpretation of utterances. Multiword utterances were counted, separately each month, by means of the number of types, not tokens, of utterances. There were 997 non-imitated multiword utterances in her speech samples over a period of five months, age 20 to 24 months old (Pre-grammatical combinations such as "Mommy, went," e.g., vocative +holophrase, were eliminated). The main results were as follows: 1) The number of words contained in a multiword utterance and the frequency of multiword utterances increased as her age increased month by month. 2) Clauses (e.g., utterances which consist of a semantic predicate with one or more arguments) containing a predicative verbal were more frequently than others (approximately 55%). Predicate nominal clauses were 10 to 12% at ages 21, 22, and 24 months, but their actual figures and percentages rose remarkably to 123, or 31% at 23 months. There were 82 adjectival clauses, 55 Kiteigo-Hikiteigo constructions (in English modifier-head nouns), mostly possesser-possessed, and 53 argument-argument constructions. Of the three-word clauses containing predicative verbal, argument-argu-ment-predicate constructions occured more frequently than argument-predicate constructions where an argument was expanded in a modifier-modified form. 3) Every predicate verbal clause including one argument was classified into 35 syntactico-semantic structures. Classification of the semantic role of arguments introduced in this study was based mainly on Suzuki's (1972b). Some constructions such as agent and act, object and act, subject of essive and verb, object of demand and verb, nonagentive and verb emerged early and occurred with high frequency, but other constructions emerged early, yet occurred with low frequency, such as location and verb, quotation and verb, and experiencer and verb. The most dominant constructions were agent-act and object-act. Some cases did not occur in this period, namely, object of attitude, object of condition, time of start or finish, duration, cause, and extent. New cases, for instance, instrument, comitative, conferrer, beneficiary, and factitive entered the child's speech later. 4) The objective case combined of transitive clauses with one argument happened earlier than did the agentive case. In the case of transitive oblique clauses, cases with the feature of [+directional] occurred more frequently than other cases. 5) Of all cases with the feature of [+directional], the case with the [+goal] occurred more frequently than the case with [+source]. As for circonstant, the cases signifying space occured earlier and more frequently than the cases signifying time. Of all locational cases, the case with [+dircctional] ('to' or 'from') occurred more frequently than [-directional] ('in/at'). 6) Generally speaking, in the constructions emerging early, the number of kinds of cases which combined with a particular verb was restricted to about one, but two or more were seen in the constructions that emerged later. Moreover, from the first one they often took the form of a construction including one predicate and two cases. Old cases combined with other old or new ones and made longer strings. Methods of the analysis introduced in this study would provide us with methods for knowing the order in which Japanese-speaking chi1dren acquired how to construct early utterances of various kinds, although we analysed only child's utterances.