ABSTRACT
Again, the children in these examples are using verbs in ways that differ from adult usage, and again a closer meaning analysis of the words involved reveals a pattern. Notice that in all three cases, the children are using the verbs in the sense of make it fall, come, swim. Bowerman’s (1982a) study of her daughters’ vocabulary development led her to the observation that these errors most commonly occur once children have developed a fairly large vocabulary and have begun to notice regular patterns in their language. They then begin to test the limits of these regularities. If you think about it, there are many verbs in English which do have the ability to be used both with and without the meaning element make or cause. Here are three examples. I’m sure you can think of many more:
Now, consider the following dialogue.
