L2 Acquisition of a Semantic Parameter

In this paper, I will report on an experimental study investigating the Bare Noun/Proper Name parameter (Longobardi 1991, 1994, 1996, 2001, to appear) and its L2 acquisition. It has been noticed that English and Italian mass or bare plural nouns (bare nouns, BNs) have identical syntactic form and distribution, but differ in available interpretations, the Italian meaning being a subset of the English meanings. On the other hand, proper names (PNs) display cross-linguistic constant meaning but variable word order. Longobardi argues that variation in this respect can be accounted for by a parameter that is set to one value in English and another one in Italian. In this way, the parameter is responsible for purely syntactic effects (word order) in one area of the grammar and purely semantic effects (presence or absence of an interpretation) in another area of the grammar. This parameter allows us to test acquisition of interpretation in the absence of supporting changes in the overt syntax. Most of the parameters that have been studied so far (e.g., the verb movement parameter, the null subject parameter, the head directionality parameter, etc.), have looked at L2 acquisition of syntactic effects and their accompanying morphology. Looking at a “purely semantic parameter” will allow us to by-pass the purported difficulties in mapping overt morphology onto functional projection representations (see Prévost and White’s (2000) Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis, a.o.) Unimpeded acquisition in the interpretive domain will indirectly support accounts of this type. It would also directly support unconstrained access to UG in adulthood.