The acquisition of Basque ergative case: an experimental study

Abstract

Basque children omit ergative case markers for about five months before the production of this case mark becomes adult-like. This has been considered a problem in the acquisition of Basque and has been related to the ergative character of the language. The aim of this work is to present the results of a picture selection task done by 24 Basque bilingual children which show that the comprehension of Basque case marking and, more precisely, of the ergative case precedes the production of it.