In this experiment we compare how 96 Dutch children from six to ten years of age interpret sentences in which two different kinds of anaphoric relations are expressed: the relations between pronouns and antecedents are either reflexive or nonreflexive. The sentences are constructed in such a way that the grammatical subject of a complex noun phrase encompasses two possible antecedents for the reflexive or nonreflexive anaphoric pronoun that follows. The interpretation of these sentences is tested in a task in which four systematically composed pictures are presented. The subject's job is to choose the picture that agrees best with the sentence. The results indicate that there is a difference in rate of acquisition for the correct sentenceinternal interpretation of reflexive and nonreflexive anaphora. Children's understanding of both types of anaphora approaches the adult standard gradually, but that of reflexive anaphora is accelerated relative to nonreflexive anaphora. We surmise that the differential rates of acquisition are linked to structural characteristics of the two anaphora types. It may be easier for children to learn the interpretation of linguistic structures which formally involve 'c(onstituent)-command' than those structures which do not represent 'c-command'.
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