A CHAT-Based Annotation Scheme for Case and Noun-Phrase Inflection in Child Language Data

This paper describes a coding scheme and a set of semi-automatic procedures for the annotation of complex noun phrases and their morpho-syntactic properties in child language data. These tools are based on the CHAT conventions of the Child Language Data Exchange System (MacWhinney 2000; CHILDES: http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/; CHAT: http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/manuals/chat.pdf). The coding scheme presented here focuses on the order and grammatical category of the individual elements in the noun phrase and their gender, number and case marking. It also provides information about the category and lexical identity of the element that assigns case to the respective noun phrase (e.g. the dative preposition mit ‘with’). The coding scheme was developed for German child language, but it can be adapted to other languages and populations.