ABSTRACT
The first stage of combinatorial speech is better described as variable than uniform. Talk of variants obscures two different aspects of language (knowledge and use) and two different aspects of language development – acquisition of the grammar (competence) and deployment of the grammar in speaking and listening (performance). Null subjects and Determiners are examples in English of early variability. The limited data in other languages make it impossible to make sweeping claims about early acquisition.
Disclosure statement
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Notes
1 Notice that this complementizer is syntactically obligatory, because of the placement of the adjunct for the moment.