Compound Nouns and Category Structure in Young Children.

CLARK, EVE V.; GELMAN, SUSAN A.; and LANE, NANCY M. Compound Nouns and Category Structure in Young Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1985, 56, 84-94. Are 2-year-olds subcategorizing when they coin novel compounds such as car-smoke ("exhaust") and house-smoke ("smoke from a chimney")? In 2 experiments, 96 children (and 8 adults) were tested for comprehension of the modifier-head relation in compounds such as apple-knife (a kind of knife connected with apples), or were asked to label objects nameable with compounds. Children understood the modifier-head relation in compounds appropriately by age 2;6. They also (like adults) produced more compounds for like objects that contrasted on a single dimension than for objects that were unrelated, and for contrasting objects that differed on intrinsic properties than for unrelated objects in momentary juxtaposition. These results suggest that children subdivide and organize categories taxonomically from as young as 2;6.

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