A Developmental Analysis of Parts of Speech Usage in Greek-speaking Children 3-6 Years Old

Authors

  • Nikolaos Trimmis (1) Department of Speech and Language Therapy, School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece; (2) Laboratory of Primary Health Care, School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece.
  • Dimitra Zerva (1) Department of Speech and Language Therapy, School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece.
  • Sofia-Maria Dagla (1) Department of Speech and Language Therapy, School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece.
  • Foteini Feida (1) Department of Speech and Language Therapy, School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece.
  • Voula-Chris Georgopoulos (1) Department of Speech and Language Therapy, School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece.
  • Angelos Papadopoulos (3) School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece; (4) Department of Speech and Language Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
  • Panagiotis Plotas (1) Department of Speech and Language Therapy, School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece; (2) Laboratory of Primary Health Care, School of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31117/neuroscirn.v8i2.384

Keywords:

Developmental analysis, Parts of speech, Preschool, Greek, Children

Abstract

Language acquisition in all natural human languages is a process in which its foundations are laid during the formative years of early childhood when the brain undergoes developmental changes. Exploring specific linguistic components provides a detailed lens through which to understand the intricacies of language acquisition. This journal article investigates the developmental trajectory of parts of speech (POS) usage in Greek-speaking children aged 3-6 years. Leveraging a sample size of 300 participants, evenly distributed across three age groups (3-4, 4-5, and 5-6 years), the study employs a spontaneous speech sample to conduct a thorough statistical analysis. Findings reveal substantial differences in POS usage across distinct age categories and insignificant ones between boys and girls. Specifically, inflectional speech parts were more common than non-inflectional ones across all three age groups. Children used more often nouns (22.66%), verbs (22.25%), pronouns (12.63%), articles (11.98%), adverbs (10.36%), and conjunctions (10.82%). On the other hand, prepositions (4.69%), adjectives (3%), particles (1.17%), interjections (0.27%), and participles (0.16%) were used less frequently. This research provides valuable information regarding POS milestones, contributes to our understanding of language development in Greek-speaking children, and holds implications for tailored interventions and educational practices.

References

Bornstein, M. H., Cote, L. R., Maital, S., Painter, K., Park, S. Y., Pascual, L., Pêcheux, M., Ruel. J., Venuti, P., & Vyt, A. (2004). Cross‐linguistic analysis of vocabulary in young children: Spanish, Dutch, French, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, and American English. Child Development, 75(4), 1115-1139. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00729.x

Bloom, L. (1993). The transition from infancy to language: Acquiring the power of expression. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511752797

Chadjipapa, E. (2021). Word frequencies of preschoolers' oral speech: An analysis on Greek Speaking Children Corpus (GSCC). 14th International Conference on Greek Linguistics, 1(1), 283–292. https://doi.org/10.26220/icgl.v1i1.3669

Christopoulou, M., Voniati, L., Drosos, K., & Armostis, S. (2021). Colorful semantics in cypriot-greek-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 73(3), 185–194. https://doi.org/10.1159/000512157

Fletcher, P., & Garman, M. (1986). Language acquisition: Studies in first language development. Cambridge University Press.

Gavriilidou, Z., & Kambaki-Vougioukli, P. (2011). Phonological description of the Greek speaking children corpus (GSCC). In K. Chatzopoulou, A. Ioannidou & S. Yoon (Eds.), Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Greek Linguistics (pp. 559–568). University of Chicago.

Gentner, D. (1982). Why nouns are learned before verbs: Linguistic relativity versus natural partitioning. In S. Kuczaj (Ed.), Language, thought and culture (pp. 301-334). Cambridge University Press.

Helidoni, M., Okalidou, A., Economou, A., Spyropoulou, E., & Petinou, K. (2022). Psychometric Properties of the Cyprus Lexical List in the Greek Language for Infants and Preschool Children and Preliminary Results. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 846249. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.846249

Hoff, E. (2006). How social contexts support and shape language development. Developmental Review, 26(1), 55–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2005.11.002

Holton, D., Mackridge, P., Philippaki-Warburton, I., & Georgiafentis, M. (2015). Greek: An Essential Grammar of the Modern Language (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203645215

Holton, D., Mackridge, P., & Philippaki-Warburton, I. (2016). Greek: An essential grammar of the modern language (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315680309

Holton, D., Mackridge, P., Philippaki-Warburton, I., & Spyropoulos, V. (2012). Greek: A Comprehensive Grammar of the Modern Language (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203802380

Ingram, D. (1989). First language acquisition: Method, description and explanation. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/416542

Kapsou, K. P. and A. C. and M. (2011). Language skills in Cypriot-Greek speaking toddlers with specific language delay. Journal of Greek Linguistics, 11(1), 56–80. https://doi.org/doi:10.1163/156658411X563676

Katsarou, D., & Andreou, G. (2022). Morphosyntactic abilities in young children with Down syndrome: Evidence from the Greek language. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 57(5), 937–947. https://doi.org/10.1111/1460-6984.12730

Lange, B. P., Euler, H. A., & Zaretsky, E. (2016). Sex differences in language competence of 3- to 6-year-old children. Applied Psycholinguistics, 37(6), 1417–1438. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716415000624

Leonard, L. B. (2017). Children with specific language impairment (2nd ed.). MIT press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9152.001.0001

Manolessou, I. O. (2007). A history of the Greek language: From its origins to the present. The Classical Review, 57(1), 226–228. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009840X06004070

McDonough, C., Song, L., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Lannon, R. (2011). An image is worth a thousand words: Why nouns tend to dominate verbs in early word learning. Developmental Science, 14(2), 181–189. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.00968.x

Owens Jr, R. E. (2001). Language development: An introduction (5th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.

Papaeliou, C. F., & Rescorla, L. A. (2011). Vocabulary development in Greek children: A cross-linguistic comparison using the Language Development Survey. Journal of Child Language, 38(4), 861–887. https://doi.org/10.1017/S030500091000053X

Petinou, K., Taxitari, L., Phinikettos, I., & Theodorou, E. (2021). Dynamic linguistic interconnectedness and variability in toddlers. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-020-09747-y

Pinker, S. (1994). The language instinct: How the mind creates. Language, 71(3), 610-614. https://doi.org/10.2307/416234

Rinaldi, P., Pasqualetti, P., Volterra, V., & Caselli, M. C. (2023). Gender differences in early stages of language development: Some evidence and possible explanations. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 101(5), 643-653. https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.24914

Rofes, A., Zakariás, L., Ceder, K., Lind, M., Johansson, M. B., de Aguiar, V., Bjekić, J., Fyndanis, V., Gavarró, A., Simonsen, H. G., Sacristán, C. H., Kambanaros, M., Kraljević, J. K., Martínez-Ferreiro, S., Mavis, İ., Orellana, C. M., Sör, I., Lukács, Á., Tunçer, M., Vuksanović, J., Ibarrola, A. M., Pourquie, M., Varlokosta, S., & Howard, D. (2018). Imageability ratings across languages. Behavior Research Methods, 50(3), 1187–1197. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-0936-0

Seifart, F. (2011). Cross-linguistic variation in the noun-to-verb ratio: The role of verb morphology and narrative strategies [Poster presentation]. Association for Linguistic Typology 9th Biennial Conference, The Universitiy of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Tomasello, M. (2005). Constructing a language: A usage-based theory of language acquisition. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv26070v8

Downloads

Published

2025-05-19

How to Cite

Trimmis , N., Zerva , D., Dagla , S.-M., Feida, F., Georgopoulos , V.-C., Papadopoulos, A., & Plotas, P. (2025). A Developmental Analysis of Parts of Speech Usage in Greek-speaking Children 3-6 Years Old. Neuroscience Research Notes, 8(2), 384.1–384.10. https://doi.org/10.31117/neuroscirn.v8i2.384