Last year five-year-old Katrina would say, "No he going," when she was explaining to her younger sister that the dog had to stay at home.Now, Katrina will tell her sister, "He's not going." This example illustrates that Katrina has made a gain in her use of:
A)syntax
B)phonology
C)semantics
D)pragmatics

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Syntax refers to the rules governing word order and sentence structure in a language. Katrina's progress from "No he going" to "He's not going" shows a development in her understanding of the syntax of English. She has learned to use negation in a more appropriate place in the sentence, which is a syntactic rule of English. Phonology refers to the sound system of a language; semantics refers to the meaning of words and sentences; pragmatics refers to the appropriate use of language in social contexts. While Katrina's progress may involve some improvement in these areas as well, the specific gain highlighted in this example is primarily a syntactic one.

Last Year Five-Year-Old Katrina Would Say, "No He Going," When