Tel-Aviv University

Hebrew) ................................................................................................................................. i Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ iii 1. Idioms: History, Theory and Research Questions ............................................................................ 1 1.1 Historical Background ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Theoretical Framework: The Type-Sensitive Storage Model (TSS) .......................................... 5 1.2.1 Idioms: Definition and Types .............................................................................................. 6 1.2.2 Idiom Storage .................................................................................................................... 10 1.2.3 Idiom Distribution ............................................................................................................. 12 1.2.4 Type Sensitive Storage ....................................................................................................... 16 1.3 Research Questions and Goals ................................................................................................. 21 2. Acquisition ..................................................................................................................................... 23 2.1 Historical Background .............................................................................................................. 24 2.2 Acquisition of Hebrew Idioms: Multiple-Choice ..................................................................... 35 2.2.1 Goals and Predictions ....................................................................................................... 35 2.2.2 Subjects (3 graders) ........................................................................................................ 37 2.2.3 Materials ............................................................................................................................ 37 2.2.4 Method ............................................................................................................................... 44 2.2.5 Task and Procedure ........................................................................................................... 46 2.2.6 Results: 1 and 2 grades ................................................................................................. 47 2.2.7 Results: 3 grade ............................................................................................................... 48 2.2.8 Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 49 2.3 Acquisition of Hebrew Idioms: Completion ............................................................................ 49 2.3.1 Subjects (3 graders) ........................................................................................................ 50 2.3.2 Materials ............................................................................................................................ 50 2.3.3 Task and Procedure ........................................................................................................... 54 2.3.4 Results: 1 and 2 grades ................................................................................................. 56 2.3.5 Results: 3 grade ............................................................................................................... 56 2.3.6 Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 57 2.4 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 58 Appendix A: Experimental Stories, Items and Pictures ..................................................................... 61 3. Phrasal Idioms in Hebrew ............................................................................................................ 101 3.1 The Transitive-Unaccusative Alternation ............................................................................... 102 3.2 Horvath & Siloni (2009) ......................................................................................................... 108 3.3 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 114 4. Phrasal Idioms in Russian ............................................................................................................ 115 4. 1 Russian Corpus Study no. 1 ................................................................................................... 116 4.1.