Anat Ninio

Publications on language acquisition in the perspective of Complexity Theory

If you're interested in receiving a copy of any of the papers not presently downloadable, please send me an email to: msninio@mscc.huji.ac.il, including your regular mailing address.

Ninio, A. (1993). On the fringes of the system: Children's acquisition of syntactically isolated forms at the onset of speech. First Language, 13, 291-313.

Hershberg, U. & Ninio, A. (2002).  Cognitive systems and the special order of their environment.  Res-Systemica : European Systems Science Journal, 2, Special Issue: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Systems Science, October 2002, Crete, to be reprinted in Journal of Applied Systems Studies.

 

Hershberg, U. & Ninio, A. (2002, January). Optimal exemplar learning in cognitive systems.  Paper presented at the Special Workshop on Multidisciplinary Aspects of Learning, European Society for the Study of Cognitive Systems (ESSCS).  Clichy, Paris, France.

 

Hershberg, U., Efroni, S, Ninio, A. & Cohen, I. (2002, March). The immune system and other cognitive systems: Optimal exemplar learning in cognitive systems. Neurology Conference, Monterey, California.

 

Hershberg, U. & Ninio, A. (2004). Optimal exemplar learning in cognitive systems. Invited article for a special issue of Cognitive Systems (ESSCS) on Multidisciplinary Aspects of Learning, edited by G. Dalenoort & M. Pichat, 6, 181-188.  [PDF ].

 

Ninio, A. (2006). Language and the learning curve: A new theory of syntactic development.  Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Chapter 5: The growth of syntax] {Sorry, not for distribution}

 

Ninio, A. (2006). Kernel vocabulary and Zipf's Law in maternal input to syntactic development.  In D. Bamman, T. Magnitskaia & C. Zaller (eds.), BUCLD  30: Proceedings of the 30th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 423-431).  Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. Proceedings PDF format.

 

Ninio, A. (2006, April). Syntactic development: Lessons from complexity theory. Invited talk at the Eight Annual Gregynog/Nant Gwrtheyrn Conference on Child Language, Nant Gwrtheyrn, Wales, 6-8 April, 2006.

 

Ninio, A. (2006, July). Language development as linking to the network of speakers. Paper presented at The Second Language Culture and Mind conference (LCM 2) - Integrating Perspectives and Methodologies in the Study of Language, Paris, July 17-20, 2006.

 

Ninio, A. (2007, March). Complex Systems' approach to the development of a morphological formclass. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA, March 29 - April 1. [PPT]

 

Ninio, A. (2008, September). Self-Organized Criticality and the properties of English. Paper presented at the 5th European Conference on Complex Systems (ECCS 2008), Jerusalem, September 14-19, 2008.

 



Selected publications on syntactic development:

If you're interested in receiving a copy of any of the papers not presently downloadable, please send me an email to: msninio@mscc.huji.ac.il, including your regular mailing address.

Ninio, A. (1988). ).  On formal grammatical categories in early child language. In Y. Levy, I. Schlesinger, & M.D.S. Braine (Eds.), Categories and processes in language acquisition (pp. 99-119). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Also in  PDF format.

Ninio, A. (1993). On the fringes of the system: Children's acquisition of syntactically isolated forms at the onset of speech. First Language, 13, 291-313.

Ninio, A. (1994). ). Predicting the order of acquisition of three-word constructions by the complexity of their dependency structure. First Language, 14, 119-152.

Ninio, A. (1994). Expression of communicative intents in the single-word period and the vocabulary spurt. In K. Nelson & Z. Reger (Eds.), Children's language (Vol. 8, pp. 103-124. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

 

Ninio, A. (1994, January). Words with holes:  The acquisition of the predicateness of predicates. 

Paper presented at the Emory Conference on Cognitive and Functional Approaches to Grammatical Development, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.


Ninio, A. (1996). ).  A proposal for the adoption of dependency grammar as the framework for the study of language acquisition.  In G. Ben Shakhar & A. Lieblich (Eds.), Volume in Honor of Shlomo Kugelmass (pp. 85-103). Jerusalem: Magnes.

Ninio, A. (1998). ).  Acquiring a dependency grammar: The first three stages in the acquisition of multiword combinations in Hebrew-speaking children. In G. Makiello-Jarza, J. Kaiser & M. Smolczynska (Eds.), Language acquisition and developmental psychology. Cracow: Universitas.

Ninio, A. (1999). ). Pathbreaking verbs in syntactic development and the question of prototypical transitivity. Journal of Child Language, 26, 619-653. Also in PDF format or postscipt or compressed postscript or as HTML

Ninio, A. (1999). Model learning in syntactic development: Intransitive verbs. Invited article for a special issue on Cross-linguistic Studies of Early Grammar, edited by M. M. Vihman. International Journal of Bilingualism, 3, 111-131.
Full text: PDF or  postscipt or compressed postscript

 

Ninio, A. (1999). Learning from examples in syntactic development. Keynote address at the 11th Australasian Human Development Conference, Sydney University, Sydney, Australia, July 9, 1999. Full text: in text format

Ninio, A. (2001). Pragmatic keywords and the first combining verbs in children's speech. Invited article for a special issue on Pragmatic Development, edited by Haydee Marcos. First Language, 21, 433-460. Full text: in text format


Ninio, A. (2003).  Review of Jasone Cenoz and Fred Genesee (eds.). Trends in Bilingual  Acquisition.  Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2001. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 24, 465-467.


 Ninio, A. (2003). ). Analogy and transfer of learning in syntactic development.  Invited article for a special issue of Revue d'Intelligence Artificielle (RIA): Regards Croisés sur l'Analogie, edited by K. Duvignau, O. Gasquet & B. Gaume, 17, 813-821.

 

Ninio, A. (2003).  No verb is an island: Negative evidence on the Verb Island hypothesis. Psychology of Language and Communication, 7, 3-21.


Hershberg, U. & Ninio, A. (2004). Optimal exemplar learning in cognitive systems. Invited article for a special issue of Cognitive Systems (ESSCS) on Multidisciplinary Aspects of Learning, edited by G. Dalenoort & M. Pichat, 6, 181-188.

 

Ninio, A. (2004).  Young children's difficulty with adjectives modifying nouns. Journal of Child Language, 31, 255-285.

 

Ninio, A. (2005). Testing the role of semantic similarity in syntactic development.  Journal of Child Language, 32, 35-61.

 

Ninio, A. (2005). Accelerated learning without semantic similarity: indirect objects. Cognitive Linguistics, 16, 531–556. Prefinal version, also in PDF  format. 

 

Ninio, A. (2005). Adult-type grammatical relations in children's early language.. In B. Bokus (Ed.),  Studies in the psychology of child language: In honor of Grace Wales Shugar (pp. 71-83).Warsaw: Matrix.

 

Ninio, A. (2006). Language and the learning curve: A new theory of syntactic development.  Oxford: Oxford University Press.  {Sorry, not for distribution}

 

Ninio, A. (2006). Kernel vocabulary and Zipf's Law in maternal input to syntactic development.  BUCLD  30: Proceedings of the 30th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development.  Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. Proceedings PDF format.

 

Ninio, A. (2006, April). Syntactic development: Lessons from complexity theory. Invited talk at the Eight Annual Gregynog/Nant Gwrtheyrn Conference on Child Language, Nant Gwrtheyrn, Wales, 6-8 April, 2006.

 

Hershberg, U. & Ninio, A. (in press).  Cognitive systems and the special order of their environment.  Journal of Applied Systems Studies.

 

Ninio, A. (in press). Review of What is language development?  Rationalist, empiricist, and pragmatist approaches to the acquisition of syntax by James Russell.  Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Journal of Child Language.

Selected publications on language acquisition in an interactive context:

If you're interested in receiving a copy of any of the papers not presently downloadable, please send me an email to: msninio@mscc.huji.ac.il, including your regular mailing address.

Bruner, J., Caudill, E., & Ninio, A. (1977). Language and experience. In R.S. Peters (Ed.), John Dewey reconsidered. Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Ninio, A., & Bruner, J. (1978). The achievement and antecedents of labelling. Journal of Child Language, 5, 1-15. . [PDF]


Ninio, A. (1980). Picture-book reading in mother-infant dyads belonging to two subgroups in Israel. Child Development, 51, 587-590. .  [PDF]


Ninio, A. (1980). The ostensive definition in vocabulary teaching. Journal of Child Language, 7, 565-573.

Ninio, A. (1983). Joint bookreading as a multiple vocabulary acquisition device. Developmental Psychology, 19, 445-451. [PDF]

Ninio, A., & Wheeler, P. (1984). Functions of speech in mother-infant interaction. In L. Feagans, G.J. Garvey, & R. Golinkoff (Eds.), The origins and growth of communication (pp. 196-207). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.  [ PDF ]


Ninio, A. & Wheeler, P. (1984). A manual for classifying verbal communicative acts in mother-infant interaction – Revised.  Working Papers in Developmental Psychology, No. 1. Jerusalem: The Martin and Vivian Levin Center, Hebrew University. Reprinted as Transcript Analysis, 1986, 3,1-82.

Ninio, A. (1985). The meaning of children's first words: Evidence from the input. Invited article for a special issue on Pragmatic Aspects of Lexical Acquisition and Development, edited by J. Streeck. Journal of Pragmatics, 9, 527-546. [PDF]

Ninio, A. (1986). The direct mapping of function to form in children's early language. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 15, 559 (Abstract).

Ninio, A., & Snow, C. (1988). ).  Language acquisition through language use: The functional sources of children's early utterances.  In Y. Levy, I. Schlesinger, & M.D.S. Braine (Eds.), Categories and processes in language acquisition (pp. 11-30). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Ninio, A. (1988). The roots of narrative: Discussing recent events with very young children. Invited article for a special issue on Child Language Acquisition, edited by B. G. Blount. Language Sciences, 10, 35-52.  [ PDF]

 

Ninio, A. (1991, April).  Introduction to the Ninio and Wheeler taxonomy of verbal communicative acts and to the INCA abridged version.  Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, Washington, April, 1991.


Ninio, A. (1992). The relation of children's single word utterances to single word utterances in the input. Journal of Child Language, 19, 87-110.

Ninio, A. (1992). Predicting risk for school learning problems from maternal attitudes at two years. In C. W. Greenbaum & J. G. Auerbach (Eds.), Longitudinal studies of children at risk: Cross-national perspectives (pp. 221-232). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Ninio, A. (1992). ). The social bases of Cognitive/Functional Grammar: Commentary on Tomasello, M. (1992), The social bases of language acquisition.  Social Development, 1, 155-158.

Ninio, A. (1993). Is early speech situational? An examination of some current theories about the relation of early utterances to the context.  In D. Messer & G. Turner (Eds.), Critical influences on language acquisition and development (pp. 23-39). London: Macmillan.

 Ninio, A., & Snow, E. C. (1996). Pragmatic development. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. {Sorry, not for distribution}

Ninio, A. (1998). The meaning of children's first words: Evidence from the input. (Reprint of article from Journal of Pragmatics, 1985 9, 527-546, with a Postscript). In A. Kasher (Ed.), Pragmatics: Critical assessment. London: Routledge.

Ninio, A. and Snow, C. (1999). ).  The development of pragmatics: Learning to use language appropriately.  In T. K. Bhatia & W. C. Ritchie (Eds.), Handbook of language acquisition (pp. 347-383). New York: Academic Press.

Ninio, A. (2001). Pragmatic keywords and the first combining verbs in children's speech. Invited article for a special issue on Pragmatic Development, edited by Haydee Marcos. First Language, 21, 433-460. .  [text]



For the following publications, please contact Prof. Catherine Snow at Harvard University:  catherine_snow@harvard.edu

 

Snow, C., & Ninio, A. (1985). The contracts of literacy: Learning how to learn from reading books. Invited chapter. In W. Teale (Ed.), Emergent literacy: writing and reading (pp. 116-138). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

 Ninio, A, Wheeler, P, Snow, C. E., Pan, B. A., and Rollins, P. R. (1991). INCA-A: Inventory of Communicative Acts - Abridged. Coding manual distributed by Harvard Graduate School of Education.

 

Ninio, A, Snow, C. E., Pan, B. A., and Rollins, P. R. (1994). Classifying communicative acts in children's interactions. Journal of Communication Disorders, 27, 158-187.

 


Selected publications on theoretical issues:

Ninio, A. (1990).
).  The genome might as well store the entire language in the environment. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 13, 746-747.

Ninio, A. (1995). Compiler Grammar: A dependency-oriented minimalist approach. Theoretical Linguistics, 21, 159-195.



Selected publications on parental cognition:

If you're interested in receiving a copy of any of the papers not presently downloadable, please send me an email to: msninio@mscc.huji.ac.il, including your regular mailing address.

Ninio, A. (1979). The naive theory of the infant and other maternal attitudes in two subgroups in Israel. Child Development, 50, 976-980. In  PDF format. 


Ninio, A. (1987). A comparison of mothers' and fathers' beliefs concerning the timetable of cognitive development in infancy. Invited article for a special issue on Women in Israel, edited by D. Izraeli. Israel Social Science Research, 5, 6-16.

Ninio, A., & Rinott, N. (1988). Fathers' involvement in the care of their infants and their attributions of cognitive competence to infants. Child Development, 59, 652-664. In PDF format.


Ninio, A. (1988). The effects of cultural background, sex and parenthood on beliefs concerning the timetable of cognitive development in infancy. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 34, 369-388.

Ninio, A. (1990). When should the first book be bought for a child? An exploration of maternal decision making. In K. Benyamini, M. Amir, A. Dolev, R. Cohen, & I. M. Schlesinger (Eds.), Theory and application in psychology. Volume in memory of Israel Lieblich (pp. 202-211). Jerusalem: Magnes.

Ninio, A. (1990). Early environmental experiences and school achievement in the second grade: An Israeli study. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 13, 1-22.

Ninio, A. (1992). Predicting risk for school learning problems from maternal attitudes at two years. In C. W. Greenbaum & J. G. Auerbach (Eds.), Longitudinal studies of children at risk: Cross-national perspectives (pp. 221-232). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.