Russian children of age 9–10 answering questions with
negation: An acceptability judgement experiment
Yulia Panchenko (panchenko.ling@gmail.com)
Moscow State University, Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
Introduction
Method
Results: Number of "yes"-answers
Results: Meaning of "yes"
Strategies for answering questions that contain
negation are different for different languages:
Participants: 20 adult native Russian speakers
(mean age 19.3, range 18–21) and 20 children
(mean age 9.1, range 9–10).
The hypothesis that children answer questions with
negation with the word "yes" instead of "no" more
often than adults was disproved:
Children and adults interpreting the answer "yes"
as denial:
Adults
Children
Materials: 20 questions with negation expressed in
4 different ways ("ne" particle only / "ne" particle
coupled with "li" particle / negative pronouns and
pronominal words / negative predicatives) + 40
fillers.
Part of "yes"answers
In the answers
with agreement
In the answers
with denial
In the answers
with denial for
questions with
the "li" particle
eng. Isn't it beautiful? – No, it isn't / Yes, it is
it. Non hai fame? – No, non ho fame / No, ho fame
germ. Ist das nicht dein Auto? – Nein / Doch.
In Russian all the four combinations of the word
"yes" or "no" and the meaning of agreement or
denial are possible:
Vy ne pomnite svoyu pervuyu knigu?
‘Don’t you remember your first book?’
Net, ne pomnyu ‘No, I don’t remember’ /
Net, pomnyu ‘No, I remember’ /
Da, ne pomnyu ‘Yes, I don’t remember’ /
Da, pomnyu ‘Yes, I remember’.
[Мурашова, Семушина 2007]:
• Children can use "yes"-answers in cases where
adults most likely would use "no".
• Older pre-school age and primary school age
children reflect on the ambiguity of such
answers.
• An experiment: 80% of people in a sample of
Russian adult speakers answered two questions
with negation using one "no"-answer (denial)
and one "yes"-answer (agreement).
Procedure:
Participants were asked to answer 60 questions
with the word "yes" or "no" and after that to
evaluate three possible types of answers for 20
negative questions in terms of their grammatical
acceptability (Likert scale 1–5).
2
3
4
5
b) – Да, не помню.
1
'Yes, I don't remember.'
2
3
4
5
c) – Да, помню.
'Yes, I remember.'
2
3
4
5
1
0.16
0.14
What does a speaker most likely mean with the
answer да 'yes'? ('I don't remember' / 'I remember')
Type of questions
(the way of expressing
negation)
76,06%
44,75%
0.66
0.54
0.89
0.66
31%
For questions with negative
predicatives and pronominals
Results: The judgements on the acceptability
Expectations:
• Answering questions with negation, children
use more "yes"-answers (which are less
acceptable than "no"-answers in Russian) than
adult speakers.
• The acceptability judgements of possible
answers will be different for adults and
children.
76,42%
For all the questions
• For children the answer "yes" with the meaning of denial is on average always more acceptable than the
answer "yes" with the meaning of agreement or the answer "no".
• For adults the way of expressing negation in a question affects the judgments on the acceptability (the
answer "yes" with the meaning of denial is more acceptable than other answers only for questions with "li"
particle).
• The hypothesis that children answer questions with negation with the word "yes" instead of "no" more
often than adults is disproved.
• The meaning of a short answer "yes" correlates with the judgements on the acceptability: in case of each
question, for children it most likely has the meaning of denial while adults interpret this answer as denial
only in the questions with "li" particle where the "yes"-denial answers have high scores on the Likert scale.
• As opposed to adults, children had no ideas about the research object while answering questions. It seems
that the majority of children don't reflect on the ambiguity of these answers, in spite of the proposition in
[Мурашова, Семушина 2007]. Children also had less hesitation with giving a short answer: only one case
of uncertainty against 16 cases for adults.
Aims
How does the way of expressing negation in a
question affect the choice of an answer ("yes" or
"no") and the acceptability judgements of different
answers for Russian-speaking children and adults?
Children
Discussion
Task example:
Evaluate the answers for the question Вы не
помните свою первую книгу? 'Don't you
remember your first book?':
a) – Нет, помню.
1
'No, I don't remember.'
Adults
Selected References
Adults
Children
"yes"agr.
"yes"den.
"no"den.
meaning
of "yes"
"yes"agr.
"yes"den.
"no"den.
meaning
of "yes"
With negative predicatives,
pronouns and pronom. words
3.82
3.08
4.03
agr.
2.93
4.08
3.02
den.
With the "li" particle
3.03
4.19
3.30
den.
2.84
4.53
2.93
den.
Мурашова О. В., Семушина В. А. 2007.
Отрицание в детской речи // Цейтлин С. Н.
(ред.) Семантические категории в детской речи.
СПб: Нестор-История, 2007. С. 138–160.
[Murashova O. V., Semushina V. A. Negation in
child language development. Semanticheskie
kategorii v detskoi rechi. Tseitlin S. N. (ed.). St.
Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriya, 2007. Pp. 138–160.]