Extraction of linguistically relevant referential properties through language learning

In order to identify the role of language in extracting a particular referential property which was involved in a reference situation but which was not expressed as relevant, in the linguistic structure of the subjects' native language, three experiments were performed. Forty subjects were exposed to the same referential situations but to different linguistic structures, each encoding a particular referential property that was, relevant. Miniature artificial languages were used. The referential properties examined were prototypical transitivity as defined by Slobin (1980) and plurality. The results showed that prototypical transitivity was extracted more readily than plurality, even though the subjects were more familiar with the latter property. The discussion emphasized how language serves to promote, the extraction and encoding of linguistically relevant properties that underlie referential situations.Deep gratitude is due to Prof. D. D. Steinberg for his cogent and critical reading of the earlier version of the paper.