Trigger Theory and the Acquisition of Complement Idioms

This paper focuses on one single phenomenon, namely the acquisition of idiomatic reading in subordinate clauses in Bernese Swiss German. We argue that the learning procedure in this case involves cross-modular triggering. The cross-modular character of acquiring the idiomatic reading in subordinate clauses is rooted in the fact that, inter alia, the child has to specify several features, namely [+Variable], [+Focus], and [+CP Complement]. This presupposes access to information from syntactic, semantic and phonological modules which is gained step-by-step. The child is forced to resort to interim default representations until several decisions have been made. The format of these default representations is determined by what we call: Minimal Default Grammar. It requires intermediate solutions to be reflections of the most economical form (either in terms of derivation of representation). The central claim is that, as long as subordination is incompletely specified, the child utilizes a more economical form: default adjunction. This choice blocks idioms in subordinate clauses because adjuncts are inherently compositional. They are therefore compatible only with referential, non-idiomatic readings. The paper is organized as follows. We begin with a general discussion of the continuity issue and the form of interim grammars. Then we provide a backdrop of the formal features and the trigger system for idioms in complement clauses which presupposes access to the formal features [+Variable], [+Focus], and [+CP Complement], among others. We will argue that [+Variable] is in fact a subfeature of [+Focus] and that both are prerequisites of the feature [+CP Complements] in German. This implies that, as long as [+Variable]/[+Focus] are not acquired, the child fails to set [+CP Complement] and resorts to generalized adjunction as an interim solution. The third section summarizes the predictions made by our analysis of the triggering system: As long as the grammar of