Child language as evidence for grammatical description: Preschoolers’ construal of transitivity in the verb system of Hebrew

Accepted analyses of the binyan system of verb patterns in Hebrew are reviewed, and an alternative analysis is suggested, claiming that: (i) the system is more regular and productive in current usage than is generally conceded; and (ii) the traditional division of Hebrew grammars and lexicography between verbs and nonverbs is well-motivated (Section 1). Evidence for these claims is provided by two types of nonstandard usage in the speech of Israeli children aged four to six: a) errors of pattern-mixing, where a given verb-root is used in an inappropriate pattern - in terms of the current adult lexicon of Hebrew - to express notions of causation, reflexivity, reciprocality, and of passive or middle voice; and b) innovative verbs created by children to fill gaps in their lexicon (Section 2). It transpires that these deviations from the adult norm are non-random, being clearly divided along the axis of transitivity; thus, children treat verbs as either: active, transitive, causative OR passive, intransitive, reflexive j reciprocal, grouping them in ways which correspond to a natural, structurally motivated division of verbs into major morphosyntactic pattern classes. The implications of these findings are considered (in Section 3) with respect to the grammatical analysis of the root-plus-pattern based lexicon of Hebrew, the nature of the Hebrew verb system and how it relates to nonverbal elements of the lexicon, and the more general issue of language change.