Effectiveness of word order over grammatical markers as a syntactic indicator of semantic relations in an opaque partial description situation

Using an artificial language system, an attempt was made (1) to examine the effect of relative completeness in describing the reference situations on acquisition of the system and (2) to determine the effectiveness of word order and grammatical markers as syntactic indicators of semantic relations in an opaque partial description situation. The results showed that syntax was induced faster in the mixed description condition, where partial three-word sentences and two-word phrases were given mixed with complete five-word sentences, than in the partial description condition, where only three-word sentences and two-word phrases were given. It was further found that word order was more effective than grammatical markers as a syntactic indicator. It is suggested that language acquisition under partial description conditions is possible provided a sufficient number of experiencing exemplars and/or pragmatic cues as to meaning-form correspondence are given.